History guaranteed as Clonoulty and Thurles chase first senior titles

CAMOGIE: FBD Insurance Tipperary Senior Championship Final Preview

By Joe Scully

CLONOULTY/ROSSMORE v THURLES SARSFIELDS

Camogie Grounds, The Ragg

Saturday, 19th October

Throw-in @ 1.00pm

Referee: Mike Ryan (Nenagh Eire Og)

Clonoulty/Rossmore and Thurles Sarsfields go head-to-head in the Tipperary Senior Camogie Championship final on Saturday with both clubs looking to win their first ever title at this level.

In that context, it is guaranteed to be an historic occasion, and promises to be a cracking encounter between two very evenly matched sides and could go either way.

Both sides come into the final off the back of very tough semi-final victories last Saturday, both of which were very hard-hitting and bruising encounters, with Thurles having to go to extra time for their victory over Cashel King Cormacs while Clonoulty/Rossmore were involved in an epic contest as they finally overcame a Drom & Inch side who had beaten them in the last four finals.

Clonoulty/Rossmore manager James Heffernan knows his side will be in for a very tough encounter on Saturday against a very good Thurles outfit.

“They are a very classy outfit,” he said.

“They are very strong up front, in particular. They gave us a nice beating in the first match (of the championship) so we will have a lot to work on based on that performance. It will be a massive challenge now for us.”

Heffernan doesn’t think losing the last four finals will have to much of an effect on his team going into this decider.

“Look, every match is different, so I don’t think the four finals really come into it,” he admitted.

“Maybe, the experience will help us in some way but it’s a completely different challenge against Sars than playing Drom”.

Thurles Sarsfields manager David Maher also knows his side are in for a tough game against one of the standard bearers in Tipperary camogie over the last number of years.

“I don’t need to tell you about Clonoulty and how good they are,” he said.“The experience they have with the likes of Cait Devane, Clodagh Quirke, Courtney Ryan, Casey Hennessy, and Sarah Fryday so it’s going to be a tough test.

“Clonoulty, along with Drom, have been the two best teams in the county over the last five or six years, so were really happy to be there competing with these teams.”Maher has a couple of injury worries ahead of the final, most notably Sarah Stakelum who went off injured in the semi-final win over Cashel. “It’s a quick turnaround to the final and obviously we lost Sarah (Stakelum) in the semi-final to injury so now it’s all about prioritising recovery and then preparing for next Saturday,” he said.

Thurles Sarsfields captain Karen Kennedy was delighted that her team were into a first ever senior final despite not been at their best in the semi-final against Cashel.

“It’s a huge day for us as a club,” said the Tipperary captain.

“We have never been to a senior county final before, so were delighted to get that and looking forward to next weekend.

“We were definitely on the backfoot for most of the semi-final and playing catch up for the full sixty minutes and extra time, so I suppose it gives us confidence in the character we showed to pull through and it gives us huge belief going into the final, that we can come through a tight game like that.”

Only one thing is for certain ahead of this Saturdays final and that is there will be a first-time winner of the Tipperary senior camogie championship, but who that will be is very tough to call.

The game could be decided by a bounce of a ball, as there is very little between the two sides. Clonoulty/Rossmore have the experience of playing in a number of senior finals but haven’t been able to get the victory, while for Thurles Sarsfields this is completely new territory for them so how they deal with that could be key to the outcome, but Clonoulty’s experience and the hurt of previous final disappointments could be the spur that sees them get their hands on the O’Dowd Cup.

Verdict: Clonoulty/Rossmore