Dec 12,2024
They may be the first team from Clare to reach the All-Ireland camogie senior club final - and they may be facing the bluebloods of Galway champs, Sarsfields - but Róisín Begley and her Truagh-Clonlara team-mates are determined to embrace their trip to Croke Park on Sunday week.
Sarsfields have been in eight of the last nine All-Ireland club finals, meaning the vast expanses of Headquarters are almost a home away from home for the Tribeswomen. The famous Jones' Road venue is relatively new territory for pretty much the entire squad of the Clare champs, however.
Begley insists she and her Truagh-Clonlara squad will relish the occasion - and the surroundings - and make the most of their seat at the table for the showpiece game of the camogie club season.
"Croke Park is new for the majority of our team, so just try and enjoy it as best we can and enjoy the lead up to it and put a performance in the day.
"A lot of us are thinking about it, it's a dream come true for me and for all of our players. I don't know that many people thought that we'd get here.
"So there's no point saying that it's only another patch of grass when it's not something we've ever come close to playing. We're lucky to have stands at matches, nevermind Croke Park. So it is something we're going to talk about now over the next while and just prepare ourselves whatever way we can.
"You have to take it into consideration.
"All the logistical stuff is for management, for selectors, not for us to worry about. But other than that, I'd say, yeah. When we do go down practically, it'll be about minding the ball at the first, in the first 10-15 minutes of the match and just really concentrating, holding possession and trying not to let any nerves get to us when we're starting off.
"This is my 10th year playing senior. We've come from not being able to make through semi-finals in Clare to eventually getting to the final. It took us three goes to get over the final."
Truagh-Clonlara edged Dublin champions St Vincent's in a nailbiter in their All-Ireland semi-final, with a trio of late scores from Áine O'Loughlin, Aoibhinn Marren and Beckey Foley handed them an 0-11 to 0-09 win and a coveted place in the All-Ireland final.
"We don't make things easy for ourselves," Begley joked. "Before we got out of Clare we had extra-time in our semi-final against Scariff Ogonnelloe who we played in the previous three finals. We're used to extra-time and replays.
"We were delighted to come out of Munster because we had been beaten by Sarsfields of Cork the previous year. So we were delighted even to make a Munster final."
A campaign that began on the hard-and-fast surfaces of your typical championship summer, now moves into the somewhat cooler climes of mid-December. The wide-open spaces of Croke Park mean the elements of the day are sure to play their part. Such is the lot of the club player - but Begley has no complaints.
"I'm not used to playing camogie this time of year, but it's a dream come true really," she said.
"For the next week and a half it's all about soaking it in, from the lead up to Croke Park. So we've just taken it in our stride and tried to perform the best we can. It's all new territory for us.
"We've had a lot of injuries over the last couple of years. A lot of hard work from both players and management has gotten us to where we are today."
Any suggestion that there's a 'happy to be here' vibe coming from the Banner women is quickly dispelled. They appear fully aware of the challenge facing them againsts the almost perennial All-Ireland finalists, but Truagh-Clonlara are not in Dublin to make up the numbers.
"They're obviously a serious team, so experienced and they've been in Croke Park many times before, but we see it as a free swing," Begley said.
"We've been in unknown territory this year with Munster finals and All-Ireland semi-finals. So it's going to be new to us as well.
"We have our senior team and then we are tight on numbers for a junior team. We're a small club in south east Clare, we have barely 30 players for the senior team. I've every faith in our team and the girls playing with us so we can put a performance in the main stage in Croke Park. It's going to be a huge battle, but you have to go for it."
