With the Junior championship done and dusted, all eyes turn to the hallowed home of GAA in London, Emerald Grounds Ruislip, for the Senior Championship final this Saturday between old rivals Tara and Croydon at 12pm.

        With Tara aiming for their 6th championship title in a row, and hoping to build upon their Junior championship victory last weekend, they will hope that their current form will bring them over the line on Saturday. Croydon, however are never to be underestimated and with exciting new additions Una Mc Gouran and Ruth Kilkenny, they are clearly a force to be reckoned with this season, evident by their extremely impressive semi final victory over a resilient Fullen Gaels.

        It will be interesting to see how many players from Sunday's enthralling junior final will be named in coach Alan Smyth's starting 15 on Saturday. Tara will also be looking towards All Ireland winners Caroline Kelly and Denise Gilligan to provide the experience and cool heads under pressure that is so desperately needed on county final day. With the likes of Helen Murphy, Joanne Hamilton, Fiona Morrisey and Niamh Dolan providing additional experience and skill in the Tara jersey, the girls in blue and white will be hoping to bring the championship trophy back to West London once again.

        Croydon too have a large pool of extremely talented junior players to add depth to their squad this weekend. Manager Katie Forde can utilise the tenacity of Clare Curtin, reliability of Fiona Kearney and skill of Marian Twomey, all of whom had excellent individual junior campaigns and were unlucky not to bring silverware back to south London earlier in the year.

        Croydon as well have a large pool of senior players who have been with the club for a number of years to draw on. With the ever impressive and reliable Anne Browne, Elaine Dunphy, and Averil Glynn, the girls in black and white will be looking to go one better this time round against their West London opponents. Previous encounters between the two this year have been physical, skilful and passionate affairs. It took extra time to separate the two in the Senior League Final, with Tara finally emerging victorious after a gallant and heroic effort by both teams to play 80 minutes of entertaining camogie in extremely hot conditions.

        In a Senior Championship made up of only four teams, it is inevitable that match time will be limited and so it is hard to truly judge what both teams are capable of. This year, in particular, the Senior London Championship has been blighted by match re-fixtures and difficulties in fielding from a number of teams. Tara, finishing top of the group stages, only played two matches prior to their semi-final pairing against Fr Murphy's, having registered wins against Saturday's opponents Croydon and Fullen Gael of Manchester. Croydon, finishing second in the group, recorded group wins over Fr Murphy's and Fullen Gaels, and showed some of what they have to offer in their exciting semi-final pairing against Fullen Gaels which was a fantastic display of camogie for the spectators in Greenford. In the group stages, Tara were comprehensive victors over Croydon.

        With a place in the All Ireland Quarter Final on 25th October in London up for grabs, both teams know that opportunities like this are not easy to come by. For Tara's Denise Gilligan, Sheila Fernandes, Grace Hamilton and Joanne Hamilton, it is a chance to capture a record breaking 6 London Senior County medals. For Croydon, it is a chance to once again put their stamp on London Camogie, after a barren period since their last senior win in 2005, and reward all those players who been disappointed over the last few years, despite coming close on occasion. One thing is for sure - both teams will be determined not to let this chance slip past them!

        Referee Beano Collins will be taking charge of affairs, with a throw in of 12pm. All support is greatly welcomed.

        Joni Traynor
        Chairperson Tara CC

Tweet

Most Read Stories