by Kevin Egan
It might have been just the first round of the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland senior championship, but the presence of heavyweight contenders Cork and Tipperary in Group 1 meant that the pressure was on both Clare and Wexford at Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosóg, given that they would be seen as leading contenders to secure the other knockout berth.
As a result there was real intensity on show in Ennis, with Clare recovering well from the concession of an early Anais Curran goal to secure a crucial 0-15 to 1-9 win.
“We were realistic about our target this year and today was a massive step forward in that target.” said Banner full-back Clare Hehir (pictured above), who picked up the player of the match award.
“We know we have our two must-win games at home so we had to make the most of them with two very tough battles to come on the road,” the Inagh-Kilnamona defender added, in reference to the that home local derby against Limerick in a fortnight.”
It was an important rebound for John Carmody’s squad, after they fell short against Antrim in the Division 1B league final.
“We took a lot from that league final against Antrim. I don’t think we did ourselves justice in the performances that we put in during the league, we got off to a very poor start, and that informed our focus today. Wexford still had their purple patch so it’s about us learning about how to deal with other teams when they’re in that purple patch in subsequent games,” Hehir concluded.
The other game in the group was at Páirc Uí Rinn, where Ger Manley’s Cork side cruised to a 6-23 to 0-5 win over Limerick.
“We treat every team with respect, we treated the Limerick the very same as we would Tipperary or Galway. We were the hot favourites, and glad we got over it without picking up any injuries,” Manley said of the first outing for the All-Ireland champions of the past two seasons.
“I left four of the girls off to play with the U23s, since you can only bring on five subs in the championship. For me it’s all about getting time into players, the panel has changed a bit since I got involved a couple of years ago and we have made it competitive, as you can see.
“The big thing is there’s girls pushing each other, there’s girls that we brought on before that would be disappointed, but I like the competitiveness. Our conversion rate was good today and we didn’t let up, which bodes well for the games ahead.”
It will get significantly tougher for Cork next Saturday, with a road trip to Tipperary on the agenda.
The contests in Group 2 ran a similar trend. Kilkenny had things all their own way in Owenbeg where they picked up a 3-26 to 0-9 win over Derry, with Katie Nolan, Sophie Holden and Steffi Fitzgerald scoring their goals.
Then in Athenry, it was a much tighter affair, where Aisling Gannon goaled for Dublin after ten minutes and the contest was tied at the break, 0-7 to 1-4.
Carrie Dolan brought her tally for the game to 0-11 as Galway ran out 0-15 to 1-6 winners, setting them up nicely for their trip to the Oak Leaf County next weekend.
“There was some amount of rain today,” said Galway manager Cathal Murray. “It was very bad (conditions) and I thought it got worse as the day went on. In the second half, in fairness to the girls, they were really good considering the conditions. We’re really happy, it’s good to get a win in our first day out in the championship.
“We certainly have things to improve on, but when you get over a team like Dublin and win your first game, that’s what it’s all about.
“The defensive showing was probably the most pleasing thing of all to be honest. We were going out playing against the wind in the second half, and we managed to keep them to two points from frees. Our backs were outstanding, but we had a great level of work rate, from our full forward line all the way back.”
Looking further down the road, one concern for Murray was a knee injury to Áine Keane, forcing the withdrawal of the UL Student who was named Third Level Rising Star Player of the Year in March.
“It seemed to be an impact injury. It’s definitely around the knee. At this stage we don’t know (how bad the injury is). To be honest, we’re hoping now that it was just the pain from the impact, and maybe it’s just a dead leg. She’ll have to get it scanned anyway; she’s still limping in there now. It was very sore after the impact, so we’ll have to get a scan done and take it from there.
