All Ireland Intermediate Club Sevens Report

The Banner Ladies Club of Ennis again did their town and county proud when contesting the All Ireland Club 7’s Championship which was held in conjunction with the recent TG4 All Ireland Finals in Dublin. Testimony as to how well they did is the fact that both of the teams that narrowly defeated the Ennis side over the weekend went on to win the All Ireland championship outright and the Shield respectively.

The Banner Ladies Club was the only Clare club to take part in this year’s championships which saw over seventy five clubs from all over Ireland compete for the coveted prizes.

Despite a 5.30am start from Ennis the team hit the field running in their opening fixture at 10.00am against Longford representatives Clonguish. The banner ladies did give way narrowly to An Fháirce of Galway in the second round game but interestingly had more scores than the Galway side but just couldn’t raise enough green flags. An Fháirce went on to win the championship outright later in the afternoon.

Further group wins over Horeswood of Wexford and Latton of Monaghan saw the Banner Ladies progress to the Shield quarter final where they overcame a fancied St. Paul’s side from Belfast. The Banner Ladies were also the underdogs in their semi-final meeting against Galway Gaeltacht side Gráinne Mhaoils. The fluency of the Galway girls in our native tongue could not match the fluency of the football from the Ennis side however and with player of the tournament Niamh O’Dea scoring 9-2 for the Clare team they scooted into the final with a bit to spare.

The final, against Beara of Cork, was a titanic affair and both teams were very evenly matched. It was without doubt the game of the tournament and the Banner Ladies were decidedly unlucky to be two points behind when the final whistle blew as seconds earlier they held a one point lead and were in all out attack at the end.

Following the game Uachtarán Peil Gael na mBan, Geraldine Giles, presented the Banner Ladies players with magnificent runner’s up trophies.

While the banner senior ladies were progressing well in Portmarnock so also were the club’s U-14 7’s doing well in the Kilmacud Crokes U-14 All Ireland Championships. The team opened well with wins over Shelamliers of Wexford, Portlaosie Ladies and Foxrock/Cabinteely of Dublin. In the knockout stages they had a great win over hosts Kilmacud Crokes before succumbing to a repeat game against Shelmaliers at the quarter final stage.

Well done to both teams who represented Clare ladies football with such distinction. Well done also to the mentors Joe Reidy, Paul McKenna, JJ O’Dea, Pat O’Driscoll & Pat Crotty (Seniors) and Padraic Dolan, Michael Culligan, Laura Brennan and Sinéad Hallissey (U-14’s). In all the Banner Ladies Club had over seventy members in Dublin for the All Ireland weekend and all travelled to Croke park on Sunday to watch the Clare .v. Tipperary All Ireland Final.