Ladies football All-Ireland Intermediate Championship Shane Reynolds The Roscommon ladies football intermediate team embark on their championship trail this Sunday and face a tough opening encounter against Division Two League Champions Clare in Johnstown at 3 pm. Having enjoyed a healthy league campaign this year hopes are high that they can put in a good performance on Sunday and maybe even upset the odds against a very talented Clare team that will be plying their trade in Division One next season. Both sides are part of a five-team system which also include Cavan, Tipperary and Limerick with two teams progressing into the All-Ireland semi-finals – so there is certainly everything to play for. Team manager P.J. Shanagher knows that Clare will be favourites for this Sunday’s game but is still confident that his side can secure a positive result. ‘Clare are a very formidable team and we know this having seen them win the league but although we will certainly respect them we will not fear them and I believe we are capable of putting it up to them on Sunday.’ P.J. stated that training has gone quite well since the team first got together and he has been extremely happy with the commitment and efforts of the players in preparation for the game this weekend. ‘We started training back in November and since then the spine of this team has stuck together and worked very hard. Every girl that takes to the field on Sunday will have worked extremely hard to have got there so we are delighted with the response we have got all year. ‘We have a very experienced panel but we have also added a couple of younger members in recent weeks so we would be confident enough that we could pull off a win a win in Johnstown this Sunday’. Roscommon have essentially a full panel to choose from with the exception of Jennifer Conlon and Michelle Walsh who have travelled to the U.S. for the summer. Louise Tully captains the side and they will also look to seasoned campaigners such as Annette McGeeney, Emer Casey and Caroline Conway for leadership when the ball is thrown in on Sunday. They also have Fiona Gavin, Feena Beirne and Sarah Sharkey back from injury which means that there will be a lot of places up for grabs this weekend. The Roscommon Ladies Board are grateful to both the St. Joseph and St. Faithleach’s clubs for the use of their club grounds to facilitate training and to all those who sponsored the team at various stages throughout the year.
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