Cork stand in Tipp’s way of All-Ireland Final place

CAMOGIE: Tesco All-Ireland Minor ‘A’ Championship Semi-Final Preview

By Thomas Conway

TIPPERARY v CORK

Thomastown

Sunday 20th March

Throw-in @ 12.30pm

In the grand scheme of things, an All-Ireland Minor Camogie semi-final may not seem all that important, but it represents a seismic moment in the lives of these young, ambitious athletes, and deserves its fair share of respect.

From a Tipp perspective, this semi-final against Cork also has an added layer of significance attached to it. This particular group of Tipperary players are relative newcomers to the top stage. There are no medals hanging from the walls or cups adorning the mantlepiece - Tipp were never serious competitors until now, as manager Michael Ferncombe explains.

“We’re under no illusions. At under-14 and under-16 this team wouldn’t have competed at the highest level, they wouldn’t have beaten any of the top teams,” he said.

“So, it’ll be a big step for us next week when we play the All-Ireland semi-final. We’ll find out where we are, but if we can maintain the work-rate and the intensity, then I’m sure we’ll be able to compete.”

Work-rate and intensity are common buzz words, but they can be legitimately applied to this Tipp team, which has dismantled every challenger in the championship so far. They ripped through Limerick in Kilmallock, thumped Wexford down in The Ragg, then had nine points to spare over Antrim in their last outing, amassing a grand total of 5-45 over the course of those three games.

Ridiculously fast, painfully tenacious, and exceptionally skilful, they certainly have the complexion of potential All-Ireland champions, more for their collective strength rather than any outshining individual brilliance, though centre-back Abby Lenihan and forward Lisa O’Connor have consistently impressed in their respective roles.

They’re also an intelligent side, with an intelligent manager. Ferncombe has shaped his team’s game-plan around speed and work-ethic, maximising the players at his disposal but also giving consideration to the meteorological realities of early spring.

“Our work-rate and our level of intensity is good, but we have good quality to our hurling as well,” he pointed.

“The effort and commitment that the girls are putting in is fantastic, to be fair to them. There are thirty girls on the panel and every one of them is working hard, every one of them is making a great contribution. But work-rate is one area that we’ve really focused on with the girls. You know, at this time of year, you have to put a lot of emphasis on work-rate and intensity, on moving the ball fast. With conditions and everything, it’s just not the time of year to be over-elaborating with the ball.”

There is a reason that the All-Ireland minor championship is played off in a condensed time-frame. Most of the players are exam-year students, coping with a multitude of emotional and educational pressures. Exhaustion is a very real threat, with very real consequences when it comes to performance. This Tipp team don’t really do exhaustion, but if they want to reach this year’s All-Ireland minor final, that trend will have to continue next Sunday.

Their opponents, Cork, scraped past Waterford by the minimum in last weekend's quarter-final 0-10 to 0-9. It's difficult to measure where exactly this group of Rebelettes are at, but that test against Waterford will undoubtedly have benefited them in terms of their overall confidence levels.

From a Tipp perspective, this semi-final is entirely winnable. They have the talent and intelligence to reach the All-Ireland final. But do they have psychological strength? We'll know by next weekend.