Clare side face old foes in bid for Munster glory

Eoin Brennan previews the Munster Senior Club Camogie Championship Final between Scariff-Ogonnelloe and Tipperary’s Drom & Inch

HERE we go again as following an exceedingly tense Munster Final clash in 2019, Scariff-Ogonnelloe and Drom & Inch lock horns once more for the ultimate showdown in Mallow on Saturday.

All because it’s a meeting of the last two winners, with Scariff-Ogonnelloe, thanks to the momentum of a first ever Clare senior crown, managing to shade matters by 1-7 to 0-8 two years ago while a delayed 2020 final last November saw Drom & Inch inflict another heartbreaking provincial decider defeat on Inagh-Kilnamona (their third in four years).

Indeed, with this being Clare’s fifth consecutive Munster Senior Club Final appearance and fourth against Tipperary opposition, it will only add to what promises to be a memorable occasion.

A fresh approach under new management has rejuvenated Scariff-Ogonnelloe’s challenge throughout 2021 as the injection of youth has only strengthened an already powerful hand.

Drom & Inch meanwhile have also blossomed by not only cementing their vice-like grip in Tipperary with a third county crown but also soaring to provincial success, a bounty they are favourites to keep this Saturday.

The experience of the McGraths Eimear, Aoife and Siobhan, Joanne Ryan, Miriam Campion, Anne Eviston allied to a teak-tough battle-hardened unit make Drom & Inch a tough prospect but one must remember that they have suffered a championship defeat as recently as last month when lowered by Galway’s Sarsfields by 0-11 to 0-04 in the 2020 All-Ireland Semi-Final.

Backed by a perfect provincial record thus far, with Munster Junior titles in 2013 and ’16 followed by Clare’s first Munster Senior Club title in 30 years in 2019, Scariff-Ogonnelloe have relished every challenge they’ve faced this year, with the younger troupe just as influential as the experience core that have been there for all three previous provincial wins.

However, it’s the news of Susan Vaughan’s eleventh hour reprieve from a red card suffered in the dying embers of the semi-final victory over Cork’s Inniscarra that will provide the most heartening endorsement ahead of Saturday’s final.

As arguably Scariff-Ogonnelloe’s most talismanic player, Vaughan’s return could well be the final piece of the jigsaw to work the Munster oracle once more.

Venue: Mallow GAA Sports Complex, Saturday 3pm (Referee: Diarmuid Kirwan, Cork)