Two clubs on the up

CARNEW’S Tom Darcy says that the camogie and ladies football scene in the busy club has been rejuvenated this year and that while they will be under pressure in their battle with Ballinacor in the Junior camogie final they will be hoping to leave nothing on the field come the final whistle this Sunday morning in Pearse’s Park in Arklow.

‘Great numbers (this year). It was a struggle last year to get a team out but they are going really well this year. Even the football is going well. We’ve had to work together with that and I think there are over 30 players for the football,’ said Darcy who is selector with the club’s Senior hurlers and the Wicklow hurlers.

Carnew’s journey to the final was eventful to say the least. The original five-team championship became four when Kiltegan didn’t have the numbers for a second team. Darcy’s women suffered defeat first time out, against Aughrim, but bounced back against their opponents in the final, Ballinacor. A victory against Éire Óg followed and when Ballinacor toppled the fancied Aughrim, a three-way play-off was the order of the day.

A draw was made with the first team out of the hat reaching the final and that just happened to be Carnew. Ballinacor then faced Aughrim in Ballinakill and what resulted was a humdinger of a game.

‘We came out of the hat and first team went through to the final, which was us, and Aughrim had to go and play Ballinacor and that was seemingly a rip-roaring game that went to extra-time. Savage scoring in it,’ said Darcy.

‘We’ll be under pressure,’ he said when asked about his side’s chances. ‘They’re only down from Intermediate. We got a couple of the girls back that weren’t playing last year, Aiobheann Myers and Shauna Keogh and the like,’ he added.

Ballinacor’s Dora Burke described the play-off with Aughrim as ‘unbelievable’.

‘Aughrim were two up at halftime and in the second half the goals came. We got seven of them and had a girl sent off on a second yellow. And then Aughrim started to get their goals.

‘Unbelievable. In extra-time they went a goal up and we got a goal back and then we got a few points. It was kind of up and down and up and down.

‘It’s been a really weird year. It’s so hard. You start and you get great crowd sand then it stops. We lost our first match against Carnew. Then we had to break because of a few of the girls were getting tested (for Covid-19).

Then we had Éire Óg and then we faced Aughrim in a game that we had to win. That was a humdinger as well,’ said Dora.

Ballinacor now find themselves Junior having dropped down two grades within four years. Dora says that girls leaving for college caused a lack of numbers.

‘We won a Senior ‘B’ four years ago. We had two teams and we won the Junior league but then we had to withdraw that team because we had injuries to the senior team. We bet Glenealy in a Senior ‘B’ final four years ago. Things change. We had oceans of girls and they were all of the one age and they all went off to college. And for the last two or three years we have struggled. We have struggled to get 15 girls out. And then this year, because it was such a short year, Bernie came on to train and a few of the older girls got in and said they would do selectors. Now, we’d only have 20 girls, but we’d have 20 girls, if you know what I mean, and we’d be happy to have them. We’ve a few of the girls who went to college who are back and it makes such a difference.

‘Things are on the up. There’s a great buzz, especially after the lads getting beaten out of the championship,’ she said.

‘We’re expecting a tough match. They beat us in the first match, but I don’t know if that was because it was our first game and their second, and it was an awful night down in Carnew. But it will be a tough, tight match.

‘I’d say it will be a very good game. They have some really good girls. Shauna Keogh, and a good few others. It will be a battle. There’ll be nothing given or taken,’ said Dora.