Banner braced to finally bounce back

IF perseverance alone was all it took to win an All-Ireland, then the current Clare ladies side would have crossed the Intermediate title off their ‘to do’ list long ago.

The county threatened a major breakthrough in the senior grade at the start of the decade when they followed up a league title in 2000 with a first Munster title a year later, before falling to Mayo in an All-Ireland semi-final.

Their fall from grace was spectacular. By 2005 they were submerged in division three of the league and scrambling for players on a week-to-week basis.

Then came the resurrection. Two semi-finals in the Intermediate grade were followed by a shot at the decider in Croke Park last year and it was a game which they entered as favourites.

As it happened, it was Tipperary who claimed the win and the leap into the senior grade that accompanied it. Yet again, it was a case of close but not close enough.

“Everyone was saying that the occasion got to us, and you don’t like to admit to that,” said Louise Henchy who lined out in midfield 12 months ago.

“But I suppose it did. Definitely this year we are a lot more focused on getting the right result. We don’t want to think about last year.”

It was the manner of the defeat that hurt more than anything. Level at the break, Majella Griffin seemed to set the foundations for a Clare victory with a goal soon after the restart but their challenge petered out. Tipp held their Munster neighbours scoreless for the last 19 minutes.

“We were very disappointed with our performance. But Tipperary were the better team on the day.”

It may be grasping at straws but the extra year in mid-tier may not have been the worst thing to happen to the Banner and their results in Division One of the league would back that up.

Monaghan beat them by 15 points, Cork had a dozen to spare and Dublin used them for target practice when they were 19 points the better side.

“We were lucky to stay up,” Henchy accepts. “We beat Galway and drew with Kildare so that was enough to stay up and make sure we are Division One again next year. That will stand to us but there is a huge step up.

“Last year we thought we were ready but maybe the year is what we needed.”

This time, Fermanagh stand between them and senior football in 2010. The Ulster side will be sampling Croke Park for the first time. The sides met earlier in the championship and drew but Clare had already booked their place in the semi-finals while Fermanagh needed a result to join them in the last four.

Even so, it was a worthwhile glimpse of what to expect in HQ.

“It was very tough,” says Henchy of that tie in Lissan. “We found it really hard to break them down so it is going to be a really close game.”