First Leinster final appearance is a source of great pride for Naas camogie
The Naas team that contested the Kildare Senior Camogie Final and who are now aiming for Leinster glory Photo: Austin Crowe
Kildare senior camogie champions, Naas, will appear in a Leinster Intermediate Camogie Final for the first time when they take on St Brigid’s of Laois on Sunday.
Naas had a superb win over Cloughbawn of Wexford, 1-9 to 1-5, in quarter-final and they had to pull out all the stops again to defeat a fancied Raharney team from Westmeath in the semi-final on a scoreline of 2-6 to 0-10 on the weekend before last. Second half goals by Caoimhe Maher and Allie McGrath were the catalyst for the County Town team’s victory on the day.
Meanwhile after defeating Myshall of Carlow by 3-9 to 0-6 in the quarter-final Brigid’s defeated defending champions, Na Fianna of Meath in their semi-final on a scoreline of 0-9 to 0-6 also two weeks ago.
After a disappointing Leinster campaign in 2023 in what he described as “a bit of a meltdown on the day”, Naas manager, Damian McGrath said they had to “fix that” for 2024.
“Our approach this year was to take every game as a game and be competitive in every game and to make sure we had plenty of games under our belt through challenge matches,” he said. “Game fitness has definitely improved and being aware of different styles now that we can face when you move into Provincial Championships,” he added. “We faced different challenges and different styles that maybe the girls may not have faced in the past and it was great for them to get that exposure and to use the game management then with coming up against sweepers, three in midfield or two in the full forward line.” Describing his team as “very youthful,” manager McGrath said, “When you consider there's probably three or four players that are over the age of 25 and then below that they're all 22 and younger, going down to 17. It is very young but with a lot of experience that they have built up now over the last three years, both at club and a county level,” he explained.
Naas will include four players, Aine Mernagh, Sara Carroll, Tara Bedford and Kate Murphy, who were part of the Eadestown team which lost to Kilmacud Crokes in the Leinster LGFA SFC Final in Tullamore last Sunday. Saying that he had a great relationship with his Eadestown counterpart, Ollie Mernagh, Damian McGrath said, “we always make sure it's the girls that are our interest. We make sure that they never have a decision to make. We give them the guidance in terms of what their schedule looks like for the week, where they go and then they just turn up, and that way, that takes the pressure off them.” The Naas manager is well aware of the strength of the opposition his side will face in St Brigid’s on Sunday.
“When you look at the quality of opposition that they have down in Laois and the opposition they've overcome as well in the Leinster championship, they're going to be strong,” he said. “They have some good experienced players and probably an age profile a bit older than ours. So, it'll definitely be another physical game and a good spectacle for the for the spectators.” The Naas manager is disappointed that the game is set to clash with the Naas hurlers’ Leinster fixture against St Martin’s of Wexford in Cedral St Conleth’s Park.
“There’s a conflict there for supporters who have sons and daughters that have played on both teams. The way we're looking at it is, if we can all be successful, we're all back in the clubhouse together, and we can enjoy the successes together,” he said.
With most of the players having come through the nursery at the club Damian McGrath sees the appearance in Sunday’s final as “a day full of pride for the club. I think it'd be immense pride for not only for us that are involved now, but for those that would have been involved since they started out first to see them come to this level and hopefully get that success,” he concluded.
Roisin Roche, Aine Mernagh, Aine Conway, Kelly Perkins, Fahsai Nic Chonchradha, Niamh Hegarty, Aoife McCarthy, Sara Carroll, Róise Hennessy, Rebecca McDermott, Allie McGrath, Aoife McDermott, Caoimhe Maher, Ciara Ryan, Aoife Stynes, Tara Bedford, Órlaith Delany, Grainne Dowling, Sophie Hazzard, Millie Kelleher, Kate Murphy, Saoirse Ní Mhuirchéartaigh, Zarah McGeever, Hannah Murphy, Ailbhe Ryan, Hannah Goodfellow.
Manager: Damian McGrath
Coach/Selector: Tony Maher, Breda Carroll, Sinead Keogh
Coach/S&C: Mikey Gillick
