Clanmaurice's Niamh Leen: ‘Our chain is getting shorter but our links are getting stronger’

Niamh Leen and Clanmaurice are no strangers at upsetting the odds

Clanmaurice’s Niamh Leen: ‘I don’t know what I would do without the girls and without camogie.’ Picture: Inpho/Ryan Byrne

Even by the standards of Clanmaurice and Kerry camogie, the circumstances of their 2020 AIB All-Ireland Junior Club semi-final triumph over Athleague last month were truly bizarre.

They are the same unit at adult level, though the development of two junior clubs and more at underage level points to a much needed increase in depth.

To that end, they are accustomed to overcoming odds, progressing four grades from junior B to intermediate in under a decade in the green and gold, winning the premier junior title at Croke Park in 2019.

Just a few months later, the same crop of players finally got over the line in the club championship and they are back in the decider now against the same opposition, Raharney, in Moyne Templetouhy (tomorrow 2pm), after garnering a fourth consecutive Munster title.

They were tight anyway heading into the semi-final due to the ineligibility of stalwarts Olivia Dineen and Julianne O’Keeffe, who had not participated in the 2020 campaign due to being pregnant and going travelling respectively.

Then Covid-19 took a swipe the night before. With 2019 skipper Liz Houlihan due to give birth in February there were no alternatives.

Fortunately, camogie rules don’t necessitate a full complement by the start of the second half as they do in GAA.

It was and is symptomatic of the group’s DNA, the molecular strength of the bond and what they would do for one another. That has been forged through bad and good, through a shared sense of mission, of place, of belonging, of representation.

So, Clanmaurice just went and won the game quite convincingly and now face a repeat of the 2019 decider, which they won after a replay.

“I don’t know what I would do without the girls and without camogie,” says inspirational defender Niamh Leen, who climbed the Hogan Stand steps at Croke Park as Kerry captain to receive the Kay Mills Cup in 2019.

“It’s been our lives since we have been so young. Initially, I put on a Kerry jersey when I was 11 and I haven’t taken one off since. I have been playing since I was 15 with Clanmaurice and I am 24. So it’s been a journey.

“The All-Ireland semi-final win just shows the strength of this team and the determination that we have and the fight and the support that we have for one another.

“We knew we just had the bare 15 and then when we got the text on the Friday night (about the Covid issues), I had a moment, and I’m not going to lie. I was texting and snapping some of the girls and we all had a bit of a moment of feeling sorry for ourselves. And then we were like, ‘Wouldn’t it just be unreal if we were to win with just 14?’

“That was the mentality going up in the car that morning. We met in Kildimo for a cup of coffee and we are all just buzzing, I have never experienced such high emotion around a game. We were just on a high, we were like: ‘This is going to be incredible, we are going to be the team that win an All-Ireland semi-final with 14 girls.”

That mental gymnastics, pirouetting from doubt to certainty, meant Athleague didn’t stand a chance. But it was a less taxing journey for a side used to being short on numbers. Even tomorrow, with Houlihan the only named sub, they cannot afford an injury or a Covid close contact. Raharney have a panel of 30.

“We always said Clanmaurice is about quality over quantity ‘cos we definitely don’t have the quantity. Something Tricky (manager Mike Enright) said a couple of weeks ago, he said our chain is getting shorter but our links are getting stronger. And it’s so true. The respect I have for every single girl on this panel and even the management team. We are the kind of team that when people tell us we can’t we are kind of like: ‘Well, we are going to prove you wrong on that.’ I hate being told that I can’t do something. I hate not being able to do something as it is, so being told I can’t do it is just another level.”

The current numerical situation isn’t sustainable of course as Kerry rise through the ranks but Causeway and Cill Ard will hopefully provide more players to the Kingdom cause in time. Leen herself, as a teacher back in her old secondary school Causeway Comprehensive, does a lot of coaching and is excited about the future.

Unfortunately, the small but fervent North Kerry support will be split and Clanmaurice will be shorn of many who would have made the trip to Tipp by the involvement of Kilmoyley hurlers in the Munster final tomorrow afternoon.

Laura Collins’ two brothers, Daniel and Robert — who is also Leen’s boyfriend — will be lining out, as will the Fitzells, Luke and Dougie.

“How many young Kilmoyley girls are going to be going to the Munster final instead of watching us play in an All-Ireland final? We are supposed to be the role models, we are supposed be inspiring and yet, you can’t see, you can’t be.”