Foudy remains defiant as Cats cut through Clare to secure quarter-final berth

Eugene Foudy remains upbeat after Clare endured their first significant setback of his maiden year as boss, when losing by 4-14 to 1-8 to Kilkenny at UPMC Nowlan Park.

As a result, Kilkenny have wrapped up top spot in Group 2 of the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship and the quarter-final berth that goes with it.

The other certainty after the weekend’s action is that Wexford will compete in the relegation playoff, regardless of how they fare against the Cats next Saturday.

After that, it’s all to play for in the final round of games, with Limerick and Offaly carrying no small amount of momentum into their home ties against Dublin and Clare respectively.

Clare had a tough day at the office, falling to their first defeat in any competitive fixture this year but the Centra League Division 1B champions can still replicate last year’s last-six appearance, at least.

“This defeat doesn’t define our season,” said Foudy defiantly in his post-match interview.

The Clare manager saw his team open the scoring through Caoimhe Carmody while Róisín Begley finished off a superb team goal in the first half, but the wheels came off after half-time and late goals from Katie Nolan and Steffi Fitzgerald hammered their scoring difference.

“We’ve had a great year, things just didn’t go right. “We had an off day to give us our first defeat in a national competition, but we still have the Championship in our own hands. We have Offaly to play next week, and if we do the business there, we’re still going back to Croke Park,” Foudy added.

In actuality, a win, draw and possibly even a narrow defeat could be enough to see Clare hang on to second place in the group.

That’s no foregone conclusion, however. as midfielder Danielle Griffin was withdrawn due to injury after three minutes, and Claire McNamara is also a doubt after she too was forced out of the action in Kilkenny. And that is not to mention the recent loss of marquee forward, Lorna McNamara, with the torn ACL.

Meanwhile, the home side are in flying form, no-one more than midfielder Laura Greene, who shot three points and picked up the Player of the Match award.

“We knew today was going to be a tough battle. Clare were flying it as well in their group matches with three wins so far, but we wanted to come out and guarantee that QF spot today and take the pressure off,” Greene said.

“We know what we have in this camp, so we just want to prove to everyone and ourselves that we are good enough.” Team coach, Michael Walsh praised Greene’s influence in Kilkenny taking over in the latter stages of the tie.

“It was very even up until half-time. We were ahead because of our full-forward line and the work they did,” Walsh pointed out, referring to first-half goals from Fitzgerald and the in-form Sarah Barcoe.

“We still felt we had a lot of work to do. Then we started the second half poorly as well. But then we took over, in no small measure because of Laura. She had an outstanding day. Everyone said today was going to be a tough test, but I think we passed it very well. We had to earn it today, and that’s what thrills us.” 

The 2025 intermediate champions, Offaly, picked up their second win of the campaign by edging out Dublin, 0-18 to 1-13. Aisling Gannon’s late goal came too late for the Dubs as Clodagh Leahy fired 0-12 for the winning side, but the story of this game was Offaly’s ferocious endeavour, encapsulated by their tackling.

“The players worked extremely hard. There was a major step-up for us going into a championship of competing against the top teams,” said Faithful boss Jack Maher.

“It’s taken us a while to get to that pitch, but the girls are really getting there. The tackle count is the highest we’ve had so far, and that’s something that we’re really chasing.” 

Leahy highlighted fellow attackers like Faye Mulrooney and Sarah Harding for their graft and effort in making tackles all over the field, and the lively crowd in St Brendan’s Park that helped to push them over the line.

“We played Dublin in the League and in Leinster and they beat us in both , but we felt all week that we were in a good place to put it up to them.

“It doesn’t matter what number you’re wearing, you have to fight for the jersey. That was what made all the difference in the last few minutes there to make sure we held on,” Leahy added.

“We love playing here in Birr, it’s like a home pitch for all of us because we know it so well, and the support that came out today really helped to push us out over the line.” 

It was all a very different story to the comfortable wins that Dublin enjoyed over the Midlanders in the League and Leinster Championship, though Maher refuted the idea that Offaly are doing anything different.

“Nothing has changed. The girls are just starting to express themselves. It probably didn’t relate in some of the early games, but the girls are putting everything into it and they’re starting to get the reward now,” he said.

“There’s a great buzz in Offaly at the moment. We’re all in the one area, we’re all in it together.” 

Laura Southern (1-8, 1-3 from play) and Sarah O’Brien (0-3 from play) led the way for Limerick, who hit the last three points of their 1-18 to 3-11 away win over Wexford.

Limerick now need Offaly to beat Clare next week and to beat Dublin themselves, and then it will come down to scoring difference, which is the first point of separation if two or more teams end up tied on points. At the moment Clare (-3) have the edge over Offaly (-14) and Limerick (-13) so at least a six-point win is required for Offaly, and then they will need Dublin to stay close against Limerick.

Dublin now must beat Limerick to stay out of the relegation final, but if the Dubs pick up a win in Munster next Saturday, then either Limerick or Offaly will play Wexford to see who drops back down to intermediate.

At the intermediate grade, Antrim and Kerry are straight into the semi-finals and Derry and Down will be in one bowl for this morning’s quarter-final draw, with Laois and Meath in the other, setting up two Ulster versus Leinster clashes, both to be played on the weekend of July 4-5.