Ladies Gaelic Football

"I DO THINK THAT WE WERE REALLY TAKING THIS SERIOUSLY, THAT THEY'RE A CLUB STEEPED IN HISTORY. THEY'VE WON NUMEROUS ALL- IRELANDS, MUNSTER TITLES, EVEN COUNTY TITLES." Images: 1. Kilkerrin-Clonberne players from left, Claire Dunleavy, Nicola Ward, and Lisa Murphy celebrate after the currentaccount.ie LGFA All-Ireland Senior Club Championship final match between Ballymacarby of Waterford and Kilkerrin- Clonberne of Galway at Croke Park in Dublin. 2. Karen McGrath of Ballymacarbry and Kilkerrin-Clonberne goalkeeper Lisa Murphy battle for possession on the goal line. 3. Kilkerrin-Clonberne goalkeeper Lisa Murphy holds the Dolores Tyrrell Memorial Cup aloft after her side's victory in the currentaccount.ie LGFA All-Ireland Senior Club Championship final match between Ballymacarby of Waterford and Kilkerrin-Clonberne of Galway at Croke Park in Dublin. incredible pedigree kept Murphy and her team-mates on their toes for the Christ- mas time showdown at the Jones' Road venue - where Murphy previously featured for Galway in their TG4 All-Ireland SFC final defeat to Dublin in 2019. "We totally wrote that off [the previous year's semi-final] as if we hadn't played them at all. They were a completely differ- ent outfit this year. They won their semi-fi- nal against Clann Éireann comprehensively and the Banner Ladies were probably tipped in the Munster. "I do think that we were really taking this seriously, that they're a club steeped in history. They've won numerous All-Irelands, Munster titles, even county titles. "We knew it was going to be a tough game and what they bring. Even their sup- porters out there, it's a community. Small, like our own. We knew it was going to be a tough, tough battle and we did not take them for granted by any means." In many respects, this is what helped to fuel their outstanding display against Mike Guiry's Waterford side. Leading at the break on a scoreline of 0-11 to 0-3, Kilkerrin-Clon- berne knocked over six points on the bounce to leave Ballymac with far too much ground to cover inside the final-quarter. To their credit, they were much-improved during the closing stages as a plethora of points - and a goal from county star Clare Walsh - enabled them to cut significantly into their deficit. Yet Kilkerrin-Clonberne remained in control and it was thanks in no small part to their attacking triumvirate of Eva Noone, Chloe Miskell and Lynsey Noone that they created such a gap between the two teams. Supplementing four points from her sister Lynsey, Eva Noone emerged as their scorer-in-chief with an exceptional tally of 0-6. Just behind her with five points was their ever-dependable inside forward Miskell, who also contributed four excellent scores when Kilkerrin-Clonberne defeated Monaghan's Donaghmoyne at Croke Park a little over 12 months earlier. "I think they relish the day. They relish playing in Croke Park. Chloe, the Noones, Olivia [Divilly], Louise [Ward], Niamh Divilly. The forwards we have and the calibre of players, we're just very, very lucky that any day you can depend on any of them to get three or four points each. "They're just brilliant and they stepped up today. I think everyone had a good game and I think we were in control. Maybe there was a few minutes [when we weren't], but we were very controlled there. Once we got the lead at all, I think that was it. We just held onto it and there was no way we were giving up the title." Last December's final represented a quick return to north Dublin for Kilker- rin-Clonberne as they had overcome the challenge of Dublin and Leinster champions Kilmacud Crokes at nearby Parnell Park a mere 13 days earlier. This was a game where the title holders had to display their true championship mettle as their Metro- politan opponents were in the ascendancy with 45 minutes gone on the clock and then brought the game into extra-time courtesy of a free from Cork native Niamh Cotter. However, Kilkerrin-Clonberne dug deep over the course of 20 additional minutes and eventually emerged on the right side of a 0-15 to 1-10 final scoreline. Murphy described this as one of the toughest games they have encountered during their extraordinary run of recent years and it ultimately had them battle-hardened for their now annual trip to Croker a little under a fortnight later. www.ladiesgaelic.ie | SPRING 2024 | 21 CLUB FOCUS "I'd say it was probably the toughest match we had in at least three years. I was in floods of tears, it was for the community there. I'd say we'd 2 to 1 supporters versus Kilmacud. We're doing it for all of them as well and that game, if we ever thought the hunger wasn't there, that game definitely made sure that we realised that it is!" remarked Murphy, who works as a legal secretary with RDJ LLP in Galway. "They're a brilliant team, they had their homework done on us. I think as the game went on, we almost got better. Our fitness told. Johnny Carter there, he's really pushing us at training and to come out of that with a win after such an epic battle is something that we'll remember for a long, long time."

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