Can Clonoulty stop Drom's three-in-a-row bid

By Thomas Conway

DROM & INCH V CLONOULTY/ROSSMORE

Camogie Grounds, The Ragg

Saturday 19th November

Throw-in @ 1.00pm (E.T.)

When Drom & Inch finally wrested the O’Dowd Cup from Burgess-Duharra’s grip in 2019, it must have felt a little surreal. Over the space of seven consecutive seasons, the North Tippclub had made the county senior championship their own personal dominion, sailing through it most years with little regard for their opponents.

Various clubs had a go at that Burgess/Duharra side, pushing them to the limit on occasion, but Drom & Inch were the main pretenders to the throne, coming up just short in a number of county-finals. Clearly, they channelled the energy of those defeats into the successes of recent years, finally overcoming Burgess in that 2019 final, before putting Clonoulty-Rossmore to the sword in September 2020. A little over thirteen months on, the question now is: can Clonoulty do the same?

The West Tipp club have featured in three of the last four finals, making this year’s decider a critical moment for the current crop of players. Their season began in a topsy-turvy manner, with an opening round loss to Drom assuaged by a three-point victory over Thurles Sarsfields. That performance wasn’t entirely convincing, nor was their group-stage display against Annacarty, which saw them leak three goals and lose three points.

Clonoulty view

However, manager Kieran Hammersley believes that his side’s last group game, an unremitting annihilation of Toomevara, was a watershed moment in Clonoulty’s 2021 season.

“Look, we haven’t been a model of consistency,” he admitted.

“But I think definitely, after that game against Toomevara, we turned a corner. That was the performance we required at that point - it really set the tone and got the confidence flowing. It set a marker down. We were a small bit hurt after one of our previous games. The Toome game was our last group game, and I just thought the girls played with real purpose and intent that day. Since then, we haven’t looked back, and obviously I hope that will continue going into the final against Drom.”

The Clonoulty manager is honest and authentic, acknowledging the challenge which lies in store next Saturday. All the evidence would suggest that Drom are favourites, and previous encounters haven’t exactly tilted in Clonoulty’s favour. A healthy rivalry now exists between the two clubs, and although both teams respect one another deeply, familiarity does tend to breed contempt - in a sporting sense. Hammersley and his players are all too familiar with the talent in Drom’s ranks, but Clonoulty have proven themselves adept at adapting to difficult circumstances, having lost a number of key players this season. They’ve had three weeks to prepare for this showdown, and you can bet that Hammersley has used the time wisely.

“To be honest, we know this Drom & Inch team pretty well at this stage,” he added.

“Since I took over in 2020, we’ve played each other three times in the championship - during the group stage last year, then obviously in the final, and then back in September. So, this will be our fourth meeting in a fairly short period of time, and we know that they’re an excellent side. They have a lot of quality right across the field, but we feel we’re in good condition going into this final. We’ve had three weeks to prepare, and I think that’s a nice length of time - we’ve been able to up intensity in week two, and then focus on match preparation during the final week. That has worked well for us.”

Drom perspective

Like his managerial counterpart, Drom & Inch boss Pat Ryan has no issue with the principle of a three-week break. He does, however, draw attention to one slight source of frustration from a Drom perspective - the fact that the reigning county champions are scheduled to play their 2020 Munster Final the following weekend.

“To be honest, the timing isn’t really great,” he said.

“We have a six-day turnaround until we play last year’s Munster Final, the following Saturday. Three weeks is fine, I don’t mind that at all, but it would have been great to have got the county-final played a bit earlier. I’m not being picky or looking for any kind of special dispensation, but it is tough to have the two games so close together.”

Ryan isn't asking for sympathy, but his point is certainly a valid one. That said, neither that issue, or the fact that Drom are bidding for their third consecutive county title, have occupied the minds of the players. Their thoughts and focus has been firmly devoted to the clash with Clonoulty. Psychology has played an important role in the development of this Drom side. As Ryan explains, when he took the reins in 2019, he was introduced to a team which had been mentally eviscerated by Burgess-Duharra. A talented group of players which simply couldn't overcome their dominant rivals. A shift in attitude enabled them to switch gears and finally surpass the North club.

“I didn’t know that much about camogie before I came in,” he admitted.

“But it just seemed that the team had a mental block about Burgess-Duharra. But once we got the mindset right, we got over them.”

Ryan is confident ahead of next Saturday's clash with Clonoulty/Rossmore. It will be the showpiece event of a championship which is gradually becoming more and more competitive, in a sport which is rapidly increasing in standard.

“I think this year alone, the game has gotten way more physical,” he feels.

“That’s probably because of the new rules that were brought in. Now I know the interpretation of ‘physical’ can be different from referee to referee, but it is definitely that bit more physical, and the skill level has come on as well. Then in Tipperary, I think the between clubs is getting smaller. You have a young Cashel team there - they’re going to be prominent very very soon. Annacarty are coming up strong from underage - they’ll be prominent too. So the next couple of years will make for interesting viewing.”

The emergence of those young teams should certainly raise the temperature of the club championship over the coming years, but for the moment, Drom & Inch remain the team to beat. Anything other than a Drom success next Saturday afternoon, while not beyond the bounds of possibility, would be regarded as a surprise. Ryan has built a polished and powerful outfit, with plenty of heavy artillery to spring from the bench. Three-in-a-row is the most probable outcome, and if they succeed in achieving that, expect a Munster title the following weekend. Verdict: Drom & Inch