O’Connor: It’s all about reaching the final

THE spotlight this afternoon, inevitably, will be on holders Cork who will be aiming to make it to the Gala All-Ireland senior camogie final for the eighth year in-a-row when they take on Wexford in Nowlan Park (throw-in 4pm).

However, the first of the semi-finals will be noteworthy for the involvement of Kilkenny — managed by the great Ann Downey — who last qualified for a decider in 2001 after winning the last of their 12 titles in 1994. They take on Galway at 2pm on a programme will also feature a tribute to the GAA’s 125 Year celebrations.

While the main focus for Cork centre-back and Ladies Football star Mary O’Connor will be on ensuring that she plays her part, as the Association’s National Director of Camogie Development, she will be hoping the two games will portray camogie in the best light. And, that there will be a decent crowd.

“The Association has worked hard to try and get attendances up at semi-finals and finals and if we are lucky with the weather, people could be pleasantly surprised,’’ she says. “A huge promotion has gone on all over the country. We also have the Caoilte development squad blitz between Armagh, Kilkenny, Wicklow and Kildare in Thomastown and all the players are coming to the games afterwards where they will see the best players in action.”

Cork will field much the same team which defeated Galway in last year’s final, with current team captain Amanda O’Regan unfortunate to be left out of the starting 15. However, as O’Connor points out, there is a wealth of experience available to manager Denise Cronin.

“We are very lucky in the team we have. We have three All-Ireland winning captains in Joanne O’Callaghan, Cathriona Foley and Una O’Donoghue and people like former captain and goalkeeper Aoife Murray, natural born leaders.

“The big incentive we have tomorrow is the prize of a place in the All-Ireland. Personally the 2007 defeat doesn’t play on my mind too much, but human nature being what it is, you want to try and reverse that result.

“Semi-finals are very much no-man’s land. Very few people remember who plays in them. Every team that sets out at the start of the year wants to get to Croke Park on September 13 and Wexford will be no different to Cork in that respect.’’

Meanwhile, she’s not in the least surprised to see Kilkenny coming back to prominence, commenting: “I spoke about them two or three years ago. We knew from the development side of things that they were making huge strides at underage level and recently they won their fourth All-Ireland U18 title in a row.

“Kilkenny is a very strong camogie county. Most of the team is very young, but they have the experience of winning at underage. They also have the talent, so it’s a matter of seeing if they can do it at senior level now. However, they are coming up against a formidable Galway side who will want to make amends for their defeat in the final last year.’’

She points out that the Kilkenny manager has enlisted the help of former All-Ireland medal-winners — including her sister Angela, Marina Downey and Cork’s Noelle O’Driscoll — in building up the team.

“When you bring in that type of experience it’s bound to rub off the players,’’ she added.