Limerick Camogie side begin championship with Offaly clash at the Gaelic Grounds

LIMERICK’S Senior Camogie team get their championship season underway this Saturday with Offaly their opponents at the Gaelic Grounds.

Fresh from earning a historic victory against Cork in the Munster Final, John Tuohy’s charges will be looking for a long summer in the Liberty Insurance All-Ireland Camogie Senior Championship.

The sides have already met this season, with Limerick earning a three-point win against Offaly in March.

Limerick are missing nine from their panel of 30 ahead of the Offaly game but Tuohy is optimistic of their chances despite the losses. 

“We learnt a lot from the league game,” Tuohy admitted. “I went to see Offaly play in the Leinster Final as well last Sunday and they are a very good team. They should have beaten Kilkenny in that game.

“Offaly are like ourselves - they are a rising team in Ireland. They were quarter finalists last year in the All-Ireland Championship so they are going to be very hard to beat.” 

Limerick didn’t rest on their laurels after the Munster Final win and were back at training the following Tuesday.

They face a difficult task in reaching the knockout stages however as they have been placed, as Tuohy put it, in a “group of death.”

Despite the tough challenge ahead, Tuohy believes that the improvements that his team are making bode well.

”There is a huge effort being made by the girls, both on and off the pitch to get to the next level. You do it by yards and inches.

”It’s difficult to achieve that as you are up against strong teams but I think if you organise things properly and you work hard enough you will get your rewards,” he concluded.

Limerick Team: Laura O'Neill, Lorraine Mc Carthy, Muireann Creamer, Sinead Mc Namara, Niamh Ryan, Sarah Carey, Judith Mulcahy, Karen O'Leary, Caoimhe Costelloe, Deborah Murphy, Cliona Lane, Niamh Mulcahy (captain), Caoimhe Lyons, Rebecca Delee, Aisling Scanlon. Subs: Sile Moynihan, Orla Curtin, Siobhan Enright, Sophie O'Callaghan, Claire Keating, Dearbhla Egan, Sarah Collins, Mairead Fitzgerald.