Newcastle West's Yvonne Lee looks ahead to Munster camogie semi-final showdown with St Finbarr's

THE NEWCASTLE WEST senior camogie side are gearing up for a Munster semi-final clash with St Finbarr's of Cork this weekend.

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The West Limerick side are still riding the wave of their historic win over Clare's Inagh-Kilnamona in their preliminary round clash last month, a game they they won by four points, 1-10 to 0-9. 

That win has set up a semi-final showdown with Cork champions St Finnbarr's, a tie Newcastle West are looking forward to, according to defender Yvonne Lee.

Newcastle West were knocked out of the provincial championship in 2024 by Waterford's Gailltír and Lee states that getting a win in Munster was a top priority for her side. 

"We were very happy with the win in Clare especially considering what happened against Gailltír in the Munster championship last year, that kind of shook us a small bit.

"Once we did get out of Limerick and we are delighted to have gotten out of Limerick we really wanted to focus on getting a win in Munster and being able to build on that, so we're taking it one game at a time. 

"We did have a really good performance against Inagh-Kilnamona and that win means a lot to us having not won a Munster championship match until then so hopefully we'll be able to bring that same energy into the weekend," she said. 

Lee says that St Finbarr's having the luxury of home advantage will be a massive boost to the Cork side but states that her side are capable of replicating the performance in Clare a fortnight ago.

"They're very strong, we know they have a few Cork senior players. They come with great experience, they will be so competitive but in Munster it's anyone's game. It's going to be a battle on the day and a case of who wants it more.

"It will be a big advantage for them to be at home in matches like this but we did a lot of energy against Inagh-Kilnamona last time out. Training is going really well and everyone is looking forward to it. 

"It would be massive for us to say that we made a senior Munster final, training is tough at the moment but it's really enjoyable. You're going away from training already looking forward to the next one and now we're just buzzing for the game at the weekend.

"It's a huge achievement to get to where we are now, not everyone gets to say that they played in a Munster semi-final and we're not taking it for granted. 

"After the match in Clare we were on such a high, it was almost as if we had won Munster just because we had never won a provincial match before so going into this weekend it would be a similar feeling if we were to get the job done, it would be a feeling of euphoria.

"It would just be unbelievable. It's probably something we wouldn't realise until maybe a few years down the line and it probably wouldn't hit us until then," Yvonne added. 

Newcastle West face St Finbarr's at 1pm on Saturday in Togher with the winner facing either Thurles Sarsfields of Tipperary or De La Salle of Waterford in the final.