Ryan remains proud as Drom come up short
By Thomas Conway
It had been exactly twenty-six months and thirteen days since Drom & Inch and Scariff-Ogonnelloe had last met in the 2019 Munster Final. More than enough time for the Tipperary outfit to nurse their wounds and set about avenging the two-point which they suffered in Cappamore that day.
There is certainly no animosity between the sides, but there is now a firmly established rivalry and unfortunately for Drom, the Clare champions have firmly established the upper-hand.
Scrappy at times and unpredictable throughout, this Munster Final couldn’t be considered a classic of the genre, but the last ten minutes made for compelling viewing. The game ended in dramatic fashion, but it was a shame that its final act took the form of an agonising mistake.
Still, as Drom manager Pat Ryan stressed in the aftermath, Eimear McGrath has no apologies to make. Her miss might have been uncharacteristic and costly, but without her presence Drom would not be the force which they currently are. Post-match post-mortems are all very well, but Ryan knows that sometimes, they serve little purpose. Sport has a tendency to defy coherent analysis.
“Look, Eimear is one of the most reliable free-takers in club camogie at the minute,” Ryan began.
“To be honest, I wasn’t even looking at the free, I was already preparing for extra-time, so when the roar went up from the crowd, I couldn’t believe it.
“But it’s not her fault, she kept us in it all year and I wouldn’t put one bit of blame on her whatsoever. There’s always going to be ifs, buts, and maybes - should we have done this, should we have done that, could we have dropped back players when we went two points up? But look, we were dead and buried, we were on top of the mountain, and then we were knocked off it again. It’s the story of sport really.”
Ryan is genuinely committed to his players, but for all Drom’s success over the past few months, one of the most satisfying aspects of his managerial tenure has been the introduction of new talent into their ranks.
Drom & Inch are far from the youngest side in Tipperary camogie at present - experience and maturity have been vital components of their recent successes. But Ryan has still invested in youth, springing players such as Katie O’Dwyer from the bench and watching them rise to the challenge. Being thrown in at the deep end is never easy, but the Drom boss has been suitably impressed by the response of his younger panel members.
“We were missing three of our club stalwarts,” Ryan added.
“Mairéad Eviston was injured and some of the other girls were missing as well for personal reasons, so they were huge losses.
“And with that, you have to give credit to the girls that stepped up - we brought in two minors in the semi-final, we brought another one in on Saturday and she was fantastic when she came on. But now we’ll take some time to restock, we’ll get ready for the next campaign and those younger girls will have to step up again.”
Prior to the county final, Ryan referenced the explosion of young talent coming through the ranks in clubs such as Cashel, Clonoulty-Rossmore, and Éire-Óg Annacarty. Drom & Inch have spent the past few months laser-focused on the provincial and All-Ireland series, but the challenge from within the county hasn’t gone away. The four-in-a-row beckons, but there are predators lurking in the long grass.