Leenane happy to let the camogie do the talking

By Paul Keane

This hasn't been the buildup to the All-Ireland senior camogie championship that Laura Leenane and Tipperary necessarily expected.

There was the ghost goal against Waterford that robbed them of a Munster final place - although the Munster final was eventually postponed anyhow - followed by the skorts versus shorts debate which made international headlines.

And when the Glen Dimplex sponsored All-Ireland series did eventually start last weekend, it was a bye round for Tipp who will finally get their Group 1 campaign up and running this Saturday.

It will be Cork, the holders, up first for Denis Kelly's side who have a punishing schedule of four games across five weekends ahead of them.

Even at this early stage, Saturday's clash at The Ragg (2pm) between the two top ranked teams in the group could be a shoot-out for top spot and, ultimately, semi-final qualification.

"You have to take it game by game but, yeah, of course you are trying to top that group with the semi-final in mind," said Tipp goalkeeper Leenane. "But look, it's so competitive that you just want to get out of the group first of all. If it's a quarter-final you end up in, or a semi-final, you just have to take it."

Tipp haven't played a game since the late April provincial defeat to Waterford. They lost by a point though Karen Kennedy's goal for Tipp in the closing minutes was ruled out in error. It left a sour taste and injury was literally added to insult for Kennedy who was forced off in the closing minutes, as was Clodagh Quirke.

Defender Quirke has since been ruled out with a knee injury that requires surgery though Kennedy, Karin Blair and Clodagh McIntyre, all of whom have 'niggles', could feature against the All-Ireland holders.

Tipp's challenge is significant against a Cork side that put 6-25 on the board against Limerick in Round 1.

"Their forwards are unbelievable, it's very hard to stop them once they get going," said Leenane, who has just completed her Nutritional Sciences studies at UCC and counts a number of the Cork players as friends.

"I played with a lot of them, I'd be very close to Clodagh Finn and a few others. I think Clodagh scored 2-3 against Limerick so she's absolutely flying. I'm sure I'll come up against her now on Saturday. She'll be trying to get one over on me."

Cork, pushing for an All-Ireland three-in-a-row, have been installed as considerable favourites to take top honours again on August 10.

"We have such a good set up in Tipp, we have a great backroom team and management, they're unbelievable, so hopefully we're closing that gap," said Leenane.

On the skorts versus shorts debacle, the Shannon Rovers netminder said she's glad that players were ultimately listened to.

"It's important that it's been sorted and we can focus on actually playing camogie again," she said. "It's important that it was player driven, and that players were listened to. Everyone has their choice now, they can wear the skorts or shorts and that's the way it should be. I'll probably go with the shorts myself."