LISTEN: Laois Camogie captain Liadan C-Fennell speaks ahead of All-Ireland final against Tipperary
Laois are set to face Tipperary in Croke Park on Sunday, August 11
The Laois Camogie team are set to travel up the M7 this Sunday as they prepare to take on Tipperary in this year's All-Ireland Premier Junior final.
Laois captain Liadan C-Fennell was instrumental in the victory over Cavan as when the game was in the melting pot, the Laois midfielder played out of her skin.
The Laois Camogie team and joint-managers spoke to the media on Friday evening, August 2 after training in Borris-in-Ossory GAA.
Full transcript can be found below.
The mood is good now. We've put in a lot of effort and preparation now for the last couple of months since the start of the year. It's going to be a tough week now trying to get our minds set in and If we keep everything positive then hopefully we'll go in with a good mind.
The last time when we were in the Junior All-Ireland there were two of the girls on the team. I think they're the only ones who actually got to play in Croke Park. There's the nerves of the final but also the nerves of Croke Park itself. I think we get to go in early on Sunday just to get our mindset right and hopefully that'll settle the nerves a little bit.
Coming from last year or the year before we didn't get to the final and came down from Intermediate. Getting to the league final obviously gave a boost to the start of the year. Obviously it didn't turn out so well for us and the Leinster final didn't work out either. I think we can learn a lot from that and take it on to the third one and hopefully third time lucky.
It's been a tough year to get onto the team now. The last few years because of Covid a few girls went abroad and people went back to college. It was tough to get back to training. People found it hard to play. This year the lads got a bunch of us back and it's worked out so well for us so far.
In the first half there were only a few points in it but we kept calm at half time as well. We didn't look at the scoreboard but they got the two goals. We just had to keep composure and settle the mind and keep our heads up. It worked out well for us and won in the end. From that we had to take away that we can't step away.
It's a tough year to get on to the team. Any sub that comes on gives us an extra boost. We know all girls that are on the panel well deserve to be playing at any time. The girls that are coming off tired but the girls coming on gives us an extra boost as well.
It's such an honour to be asked to be captain this year. I suppose it does give a little bit of extra nerves because you are shown as the leader of the team. These girls are a great bunch. It's a title for this team because every girl on the team shows great leadership and determination so it's not too bad of a job.