Player View: Clare captain Orlaith Duggan previews Saturday’s Liberty Insurance All-Ireland Senior Championship Quarter-Finals

by Therese O’Callaghan

 

Clare captain Orlaith Duggan gives her take on the Liberty Insurance All-Ireland Senior Championship Quarter-Finals which take place in Semple Stadium, Thurles this Saturday August 5th. The Banner County narrowly missed qualification after finishing fourth in Group 1 behing both Dublin and Galway who are in action this weekend.

 

Dublin v Wexford

Dublin have shown huge workrate in all their group games and will be hoping to bring the same intensity to this Quarter-Final.

 

If Wexford are to pull through, they will need to ensure that they keep their free count to a minimum as Dublin goalkeeper Faye McCarthy has given an exhibition of accuracy from long range placed balls. Chloe Fox and Úna Leacy have been Wexford’s biggest scoring threat in a forward line that is without Kate Kelly for the first time in a number of years.

 

Manager David Herity has definitely brought a buzz back to Dublin camogie but I think Wexford will have more fire power up front to get a win in this quarter final clash.

 

Galway v Tipperary

Tipperary came through the group stages after a last round win against Offaly and will feel they have a great opportunity now to kickstart their campaign. Tipperary have been boosted this year by the return of Cáit Devane from a cruciate ligament injury and her leadership will be crucial for Tipperary on Saturday.

 

Both squads play a similar type of free-flowing Camogie and the Galway backs will have to closely monitor Nicole Walsh and Orla O’Dwyer in particular. Similarly, Galway’s inside line of Ailish O’Reilly, Aoife Donohue and Orlaith McGrath have been causing havoc in the group stages.

 

This group of Galway players have been competing in the latter stages of the competition for a number of years. I think Galway’s big-match experience will grind it out for them in what I expect to be a very close contest.

 

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