St Ailbes looking to use winning momentum to propel them to Munster final glory

ST AILBES have already recorded one of their most successful seasons to date after winning both the Limerick Division 1 league and the senior championship. They will now contest the AIB Munster Intermediate Final against West Cork outfit O'Donovan Rossa on Sunday at 1pm in Mallow, in their quest to secure their third cup this year. 

This will be the east Limerick sides chance at Munster glory after opportunity was of playing in the Munster Championship was taken away from then in 2020 due to the pandemic. Previous to that the team last featured in the Munster competition in 2011. 

Speaking about their third final of the 2024 season captain Niamh Ryan stated: "I suppose when you set your stall out at the start of the year you only look as far as the Limerick senior championship, which is extremely difficult to win, and once we got over that hurdle we pushed on again. They last few weeks in the Munster series have been great fun, everyone is buzzing. It's November and we are still playing football so I think everyone is excited for another final."

St Ailbes themselves have developed as a squad over the last number of years, heartbreakingly losing three county finals to rivals Monagea, but their performances this season have showed the drive and determination in the squad. 

Niamh went on to speak about the development of the Ailbes team since their last Munster decider 13 years ago. 

"Back in 2011 we were an incredibly young team with only four or five of our current squad playing back then. This time around it's a different team. We have been lucky to hold on to that bit of experience in the team over the last number of years, but then you also have a nice blend of youth coming through from minor as well. We feel like we have a better blend of older and younger players on our squad this season and it's been a huge benefit to us."

Ailbes have blown their Munster championship opposition out of the water throughout the knock-out stages after beating Ballylanders in the Limerick senior final. 

They made light work of Na Deise in the quarter-final, 5-16 to 0-4, before moving on and beating Tipperary side Cappawhite on a similar scoreline of 3-15 to 0-3. 

Despite posting these threatening final scores Ailbes captain Niamh "is under no illusion" about the test her side will face on Sunday against O'Donovan Rossa. 

The Skibbereen-based team are on an unbelievable winning streak after capturing the junior All-Ireland title last year and moving straight into the intermediate ranks of Cork this season, where they have now got themselves into another Munster final in a higher grade.

Niamh spoke about her sides opposition stating: "When you come up against teams from Cork and Kerry you know it's going to be a huge challenge. We wouldn't be getting ahead of ourselves after winning throughout the knock-out stages of the Munster's, it gives us huge confidence for sure but we are under no illusion of the battle we face on Sunday."