St Rynagh's aim to retain All-Ireland intermediate camogie title in Croke Park

IT IS just eight weeks since St Rynagh's were crowned All-Ireland Intermediate Camogie Club champions and on Sunday next they will put that title on the line once more when they take on Salthill Knocknacarra in the 2021 final at Croke Park at 2pm.

AIB All-Ireland Intermediate Camogie Club Final Preview

It has been a whirlwind couple of months for the St Rynagh's girls and they can crown an amazing period for them if they can retain their title in Sunday's final.

On January 8th they won the title for the first time when defeating Gailltir from Waterford in the 2020 final with a 1-11 to 0-10 victory at FBD Semple Stadium in Thurles to bring an All-Ireland Club title back to Offaly for the first time.

In the intervening period, they had little time to celebrate as just two weeks later they were back in action in the Leinster championship and they went on to claim that title for the fourth year in succession before beating Gailltir once more in the All-Ireland semi-final to set up Sunday's Croke Park date with Salthill Knocknacarra.

This will be St Rynagh's third All-Ireland final in a row and they will be attempting to become just the second side to win the Intermediate title for a second time. They won the Leinster title for the first time in 2018 but lost the All-Ireland semi-final narrowly that year to Gailltir.

A year later they made the All-Ireland for the very first time and once again met Gailltir. St Rynagh's led that contest at Croke Park late in the game but the Waterford girls hit a late goal to snatch victory by a one goal margin.

St Rynagh's looked like they wouldn't get the chance to defend their title as Covid intervened and it looked like there would be no All-Ireland Championships as the Camogie Association signalled their intention to cancel them. However, credit to the clubs involved, they fought for the right to complete the championships and their efforts were rewarded as they won a third Leinstser title in a row when the championships resumed before Christmas and St Rynagh's battled their way to a second All-Ireland final in a row and on that historic day in January, they reached the Holy Grail when winning the title for the first time.

Now they are on the brink on retaining the crown and creating their own piece of history. The intermediate championship has been well spread around since being first introduced in 2010 with clubs from nine different counties claiming the 11 titles to date. Eoghan Rua from Derry won the first two titles and thus far are the only club to have won the title more than once. (They are contesting the Junior Final next Sunday). Waterford is the only other county to have had two winners with Lismore winning in 2013 and Gailltir in 2019. The other titles have gone to Castlegar (Galway), Piltown (Kilkenny), Cahir (Tipperary), Myshall (Carlow), Johnstownbridge (Kildare), Clonduff (Down) with St Rynagh's the most recent name to go on the Una Ni Fhaircheallaigh Cup.

Salthill/Knocknacarra Camogie came into being in 1979 and from small beginnings have grown into a large city club with a strong underage structure. Today they have large numbers playing from nursery up to adult level. In 2020 they fielded two adult teams for the first time as they began to reap the benefits of that underage structure.

They won the county Junior B title in 2017 and then in 2020 won the County Junior A crown. 2021 was their first time playing at Intermediate level in the club’s history, and they won the County League and reached the County Championship final, which they lost to Kinvara by a point, 1-11 to 0-13.

In late January they won the Connacht Intermediate title for the first time when defeating Roscommon' s Athleague by 3-3 to 0-5 and they claimed their place at Croke Park for Sunday's All-Ireland final when beating Down's Portaferry in Abbotstown by 0-10 to 1-4.

St Rynagh's won the Offaly title for a fifth time in a row last Autumn and after completing their 2020 All-Ireland campaign with victory in the final in early January, they were straight back into the 2021 campaign just two weeks later when they faced Celbridge from Kildare and had a big win by a 9-12 to 0-4 scoreline.

The Leinster semi-final was a very close affair against Kilkenny side Barrow Rangers but St Rynagh's came out on the right side of a good contest with a 1-12 to 3-4 victory. That set up a final a week later against Myshall in Kinnegad and St Rynagh's made no mistake in winning their fourth Leinster title in a row with a 6-8 to 1-5 victory.

That set up another meeting with Gailltir of Waterford in the All-Ireland semi-final in Nenagh last Saturday week and St Rynagh's repeated their victory over the same opponents they had beaten in the 2020 All-Ireland final with a 2-11 to 1-11 win and now they are looking forward to a third All-Ireland final in succession.

St Rynagh's have huge momentum behind them at this stage and the experience they have gained over the last few years is a huge bonus heading into an All-Ireland final. Under the guidance of Mark Dunne from Meelick/Eyrecourt and coaches Molly Dunne, Declan Kelly, Trevor Moylan and Trish Nugent, they have made great progress and are now a formidable unit. Mark Dunne has been in charge for the last four years and Rynagh's record in that time includes four Offaly and four Leinster titles, one All-Ireland title, and they have appeared in the All-Ireland final in three of those four years.

They have a wonderful blend of youth and experience and play to their strengths. Ellen Gilligan has proven herself a match winner in goals with some tremendous saves and the experience Elaine Sullivan slots in in front of her with Sinead Moran and Meadbh Doorley in the corners. Emma Corcoran and Katie O'Connell are good attacking wing backs, but also do their jobs defensively, while Rynagh's tend to adopt a duo in the centre with captain Grainne Dolan and Roisin Egan combining with great effect to cut supply lines to opposing forwards.

Helen Dolan is a tremendous worker around the middle of the field where Louise Mannion has been providing strong support and links very effectively with the attack.

Kate Kenny might provide the bulk of the scores in attack but it is by no means a one woman show. The experienced Siobhan Flannery is a handful for any defender, the speed and agility of Mairead Daly can trouble any defence, the hard work of Sinead Hanamy is instrumental in setting up scoring opportunities and Linda Sullivan is another very experienced campaigner who often pops up with very important scores.

St Rynagh's had a very impressive 38 players named on their panel in the programme for the All-Ireland semi-final and the likes of Roisin Daly, Aoife McLoughlin and others have played their part in the campaign and it is strength in depth like that that has enabled the club to be so successful in recent times.

Salthill Knocknacarra will provide stiff opposition and will be aiming to make their own piece of history. They have a number of players who have played underage with Galway and the progress they have made in climbing the ranks in recent years has given them tremendous confidence. Joint captains Siobhan Divilly and Orla Callanan lead by example, Divilly getting the player of the match award in the All-Ireland semi-final. Laura Kelly scored nine of their 10 points in that game. Centre back Emma Madden is another player to watch and the Kellys (Fiona and Aoife), Murrays (Mary and Claire) and Keanes (Aoife and Camille) will all test the ability of the St Rynagh's players.

It promises to be another great occasion and with this final taking place in Croke Park, it would be a fitting conclusion to a stellar period in St Rynagh's history to see Grainne Dolan climbing the steps of the Hogan Stand on Sunday to collect the All-Ireland trophy for a second time.