Niamh McGrath Leads Sarsfields to Historic All-Ireland Victory
Sarsfields (Galway) 1-17
Truagh/Clonlara (Clare) 0-6
“This was undoubtedly the most special yet,” said a beaming Niamh McGrath.
McGrath is a highly decorated player with multiple All-Irelands for both club and county, so the words carry weight.
Perhaps the hint was in the ten-month-old bundle in her arms that goes by the name of Ruadhán. Resplendent in a tiny Sarsfields geansaí, McGrath’s son was attending his second All-Ireland final.
His mother was still expecting him 12 months ago and her absence from the field in terms of general play and leadership was keenly felt as the Galway queenpins lost their title to Dicksboro.
Her baby boy is obviously the apple of her eye but she was heavily motivated to be back in the thick of it, as quickly as possible.
Under two months, the manager, her father, Michael – or ‘Hopper’ as you might know him – related afterwards.
Anyway, what made it so special was not her own personal absence last year. No. It was all about the collective.
“It was just losing,” the midfield powerhouse explained. “You want to come back from that. It’s great to be here and it was awful watching it though obviously I had a very good reason, but losing hurt and we all wanted to be back. It really drove us on.
Clanmaurice Clinch Back-to-Back All-Ireland Intermediate Club Camogie Championship Title
Clanmaurice (Kerry) 2-16
Ahascragh/Caltra (Galway) 1-1
Usually, the cant at the end of a final is not to look to the future, but to relish the now.
And while there could be no doubts that the small panel of Clanmaurice players, their backroom staff, family and friends were going to give it holly for a few days at least after going back-to-back in the AIB All-Ireland intermediate club camogie championship, manager John Madden was looking to next season, unprompted.
“The thing about this group, they’ve gone to the well so many times,” said Madden, as he watched the woman he called “the heart of the club,” club secretary and team captain, Patrice Diggin give her acceptance speech having been presented with the trophy.
“They just don’t know when they’re beaten and they come back time and time again and I know they’re gonna love having a crack off senior next year. I think they’ll all stay together because they’ll want one crack at it. It’s brilliant.”
It isn’t all that long ago they were losing a junior final but they have travelled all sorts of roads together, overcome countless hurdles, with not enough players but more than enough, even when they won an All-Ireland semi-final starting with 14 and with a heavily pregnant 15th willing to stand in a corner if need be.
Thankfully it didn’t come to it on that occasion but the spirit is in keeping with their path to the highest level.
Knockananna Claims All-Ireland Junior A Camogie Title with Fiery Second-Half Performance
Knockananna (Wicklow) 3-11
Granemore (Armagh) 0-12
Three years after they first came to national prominence by winning the AIB All-Ireland Junior B Club Camogie Championship, Knockananna of Wicklow took another huge step up the chain when three second-half goals from full-forward Ciara Byrne was enough to avenge last year’s junior A semi-final defeat to eventual winners Granemore in this year’s decider.
But as player of the match, Byrne testified afterwards, this victory was more than three years in the making.
“This is the best feeling in the world, we’ve been working towards this for the last year, actually for the last ten years!” she declared.
“The girls were training themselves for a few weeks after the league and then they approached me, and it just so happened that we could come to an agreement on what way to work it,” said Weir of his new role.
“Once we got going, everything just fell into place. The girls were brilliant and I’m just delighted for them. From one to 15, the three subs, the other girls on the panel who didn’t get a run today, right from the start we said that our target was to win this All-Ireland, and they committed to that from the first training session, always believing in it,” he beamed.
Naomh Treasa Clinch AIB All-Ireland Junior B Camogie Club Title
Naomh Treasa (Tyrone) 2-3
Ceann Créige (Britain) 0-4
An historic first ever All-Ireland club final appearance by a Scottish team might have been the headline news in the lead-in to this unique AIB All-Ireland Junior B Camogie Club Final, but on the day, it was the spirit of the tightly knit Naomh Treasa community that prevailed in Saturday’s fixture at the National Games Development Centre in Abbotstown.
“Forget about us players, those supporters have come out in hail, rain and snow to back us at times when we didn’t back ourselves, this is for them,” said midfielder and player of the match Róisín McErlean, whose goal at the start of the second half proved to be the crucial score in this low-scoring battle. McErlean was also POTM when Naomh Treasa took the honours in 2021.
“You’ve seen the support today, there’s no stone unturned. The sponsorship we’ve had over the week, the messages of good luck and all.
“We’re a second half team, and we love a dogfight,” said McErlean. “When we went in at half-time, I knew that we hadn’t performed to the level that we’re capable, I knew we’d bring it in the second half. Now that we’ve gotten there, there’s no words to describe it, I’m absolutely over the moon”.
