Mary’s inspired by ghosts of past

If ever proof was required that success breeds success, St Mary’s Secondary School of Charleville would have a powerful body of evidence to support the claim.

Since 1986, the school has won 31 All-Ireland camogie titles across various age-groups, and 20 of the Milford panel for tomorrow’s All-Ireland club final are alumni of the school.

Today in Charleville, St Mary’s take on their namesakes from Magherafelt, Co Antrim in the All-Ireland Post-Primary junior semi-final. There is an eagerness to give themselves a chance to win a first national title since 2006 and manager Ger O’Donovan is keen to help the side carry on the school’s proud heritage.

“The past success does weigh on you sometimes — the girls know that the last All-Ireland win was in 2006 — but that makes them more determined, O’Donovan said.

“They all know, their older sisters have done it, their neighbours, some of their mothers have, so they want to do it too.”

They have certainly gone about things the right way.

“We knew at the start of the year that we had a good panel,” O’Donovan said, “we had a lot of work put in last year and the year before.

“We knew we had a good chance and we worked very hard from October onwards.

“We beat Christ The King to win the county, an incredible performance, and we just built on that then in the Munster championship.”

After beating Nenagh in the provincial semi-final, they faced St Flannan’s in the Munster final. Despite having to travel, a 1-5 to 0-4 win was secured and O’Donovan admits that it was a slog.

“Conditions were tough,” he said, “and it was up in their home patch.

“Maybe they underestimated us, because they had 11 of their senior team and we didn’t have many of ours, but they showed the same attitude that they had against Nenagh.

“We were up six points at half-time after playing with the wind and a lot of people watching might have thought that we’d be up against it but we held out. Our defence is excellent, all year long we have hardly conceded a goal, and when the forwards click they’re very hard to stop.”

Not that today’s clash will be a breeze.

“Magherafelt have won three in a row in Ulster, so obviously they’re coming down with a good team,” he said. “They’re in the senior All-Ireland final too and I think they have seven of that team, so we know it’s going to be a tough ask.”