*Mark Reidy, Maria O’Loughlin, Caomhán Ó Braoinnáin, Niall Gavin and Paddy Frawley.
ST JOSEPH’S DOORA/BAREFIELD are bidding to win the Clare LGFA senior title for the first time in their history.
Founded in 2000 by the late Marion Keane, the club two years later developed an underage structure which has resulted in the fielding of teams all the way from U6 to senior.
Sunday is a big day for The Parish as they look to win a first senior championship while lining out in their first senior decider.
Clondegad clubmen Paddy Frawley and Niall Gavin are in their first seasons as manager and coach of Doora/Barefield with Caomhán Ó Braoinnáin an U21A championship winner with St Joseph’s on board for the first time.
They are joined by Maria O’Loughlin who has been an instrumental figure in the success of the ladies football club including managing their 2019, 2021 and 2022 Minor A success, the Cooraclare native of the famed Morrissey family also has five All-Irelands to her name at different levels.
Mark Reidy father of star player Aisling completes the management, he has been involved with camogie and ladies football teams within the club including those to have gone to Féile and offers a very sharp eye plus a very supportive presence.
The Clare Echo spoke to the management team in Gurteen ahead of Sunday’s county final.
Páraic McMahon (PMcM): Firstly it is great for Doora/Barefield to be in a senior ladies football final.
Paddy Frawley (PF): “it is fantastic for both sides to be in a county final for the first time, the fact that the venue is Cusack Park really adds to it, we can’t wait and the excitement is starting to build in The Parish, it is the same in Kilmurry Ibrickane. This was the goal from the start of the year for both sides, we’re here now and hopefully on the day it will go our way”.
What is different about 2024 that Doora/Barefield have made the senior final for the first time?
Mark Reidy (MR): “We’ve taken inspiration from the camogie team last year, they went out and won matches that maybe they shouldn’t have won, the one thing I noticed was they were a united team and I think we have maintained that unity and we have grown that unit this year but we’ve also respected the camogie so last week was a brilliant week because it took the focus off the football and put it on the camogie, that unity in the team has made the difference”.
Maria O’Loughlin (MOL): “I think this is the first year that a senior management team was pulled together specifically for the senior girls and it seems to have worked. The talent has been there for the last number of years, it has just been about pulling it together, the girls have stepped up and it has been huge and they have believed in everything once the five of us came together at the beginning of January, we’ve done everything that we’ve set out to do”.
Caomhán Ó Braoinnáin (COB): “I was delighted to be brought into the management, I’ve enjoyed the year and they have been a great group to work with. We’ve been together a lot during the year with training and matches but it has been very enjoyable”.
PMcM: Coming in as an outside coach Niall what were your first impressions?
Niall Gavin (NG): “Paddy spoke to me at the start of the year about getting involved, Paddy doesn’t leave anything to chance, he had his homework done, he told me what to expect and what was here, the second I came in I could see the talent in the group and the potential we had, it was about getting it all together and getting it to work, my first impressions were what Paddy had said to me that there was a championship there to be won, it was about putting it all together. Myself and Paddy go way back, probably for the last eight or nine years we’ve been working together doing various teams, minor, junior, U21s, we’ve been selectors with the seniors and involved in the background for Clondegad so I’m no stranger to Paddy but we work well together, he is a fantastic person to work with”.
PMcM: Who does what in the management team?
PF: “I’m the manager, everyone else pitches in as mentors, selectors, coaches, it is a management team, it is the same as the football team going out on the field from one to thirty one, everyone rightly has an input like we would hope the players input on the field, that is the way I like to see it because if you are not working together in any walk of life I think you are going nowhere. We all do a bit of coaching, myself and Niall do a bit, Caomhán does a bit, Mark and Maria we’d be lost without their knowledge of the players because they know them since U6 up, Maria would have been involved with a number of teams and had Minor As won, she was coaching them and was involved at inter-county, Mark has a camogie background too so he’d know the lay of the land, if we were without them then you wouldn’t be interviewing us here today, without doubt”.
MR: “Paddy is being very generous to us, Paddy brought a level of professionalism to this that I hadn’t seen, there isn’t anything that he hasn’t thought of, even before the sessions we get a training plan, there is a structure to this that the girls appreciate as much as we do but at least we come to the pitch know what we’re expecting of everyone”.
PMcM: Maria you’ve plenty of experience of West Clare battles from your own playing days, there’s another tough one ahead this Sunday?
MOL: “It will be a battle but the girls are well able, they are well coached, this is not the first time these girls have met Kilmurry Ibrickane, Aisling Reidy’s age group were the first U12A team to beat Kilmurry Ibrickane in Cooraclare twelve or thirteen years ago. Both teams have very talented squads, they have Chloe Moloney, Amy Sexton, Rebecca Doohan, Joanna Doohan, Ellie Hanrahan, we have Amy, Siofra, Hannah Doyle, Aobha O’Driscoll, Aisling Reidy, Emer Clune, on both teams players that have played inter-county at minor, U16, intermediate, all levels so it will be a massive contest. It will be the first senior final for both teams, county finals don’t come around too easy, I think it’s all to play for, the girls if they turn up on the day I’ve no doubt in their ability”.
PMcM: This is the second time this year that ye are meeting Kilmurry Ibrickane in a final so ye are very keen to come out on the right side?
MOL: “The league final we let get away from us, maybe it was the occasion but it is good to see two new teams in it, it shows the league final and we played a fantastic championship but yet it is the same two teams that have finished as the top two”.
PMcM: Caomhán you’ve won an U21A title, how does this compare for the club with the ladies getting to a first senior final?
COB: “It is a massive step up, I’ve been saying to them all year if they could get to a senior final it would be absolutely phenomenal and that they were good enough to get there if they believed, they have believed it and they have got there. Kilmurry Ibrickane have a lot more experience as an overall club getting to finals than we do so this is a big occasion for the whole parish but we need to treat it like another game, it’s against Kilmurry Ibrickane who we have played twice already, it is even stevens at the minute, it’s about performing and whoever performs on the day will get over the line because the teams are so evenly matched, that has been our main focus, we don’t want players getting carried away because it is about performing on the day”.
What was the turning point in the year that ye felt a county final was within reach?
NG: “There was a lot of learnings throughout the year, the league is what it is, there’s lots of gaps in between games which can be tough so you can’t get momentum going but we learned a lot from the league final about us as a team, the disappointment helped fuel training for the next couple of weeks, seeing the character of the players to come back out in the first round of the championship and face Kilmurry Ibrickane, put in a great performance and to have their own inner belief showed the character within the group. I have no specific moment but little things which worked out during the year”.
PF: “I don’t think there was a massive turning point but loads of little ones, the season is so fragmented, we played the league final on the 18th of May, we didn’t play championship until the 11th of August, people go away during the summer, county players are in and out, it was really when we got them all back in together for the last two months that we started to get on a run and build momentum. I think the second round where we lost to Kilmihil maybe we could have thrown in the towel then as far as feeling sorry for ourselves but the girls knuckled down and got to work, it’s so hard when they are also playing camogie but they treat both with respect, maybe after that we were able to get back on the horse for the third round against West Clare Gaels in Cross, we’ve drove on since then and we’ve one more step to go”.
MR: “I’ve known these young ladies for a long time, my daughter is playing and from being on the sideline I could always see the talent, I was delighted to be asked to be involved and from day one doing the strength and conditioning the numbers were phenomenal, they got their programmes and were texting Paddy their results so you could see their commitment. In any season you will have ups and downs but they have instilled a belief in themselves and I think it is down to Paddy and how he has managed it, down to us and how we’ve managed it, I’ve absolute belief in this team because they have so much talent, it means something special to them”.
MOL: “I’ve always said the talent is in the club it is about pulling it together, that is what the five of us did and we pulled it together, it was important that the management team came together because the talent was there, it is just getting it right. The girls themselves believed, I could see a lift especially in the league final, it went to a shootout and they were gutted, we all were and they all knew at that time they could win the championship and I think we’re going to win the championship”.
COB: “The draw for the championship really focused minds, it was a tricky one to say the least because anybody could come first or last in that group, that is what we felt, as far as we were concerned we could come top, second, third or fourth, at half time below in Cross we were bottom of the group and heading into relegation and when you get into a relegation final anything can happen as we saw, the way they come out for the second half that day and put in a professional performance that day, they didn’t leave anything to chance. The big turning point will be on Sunday, there’s no point getting to a final and losing, the last one is going to be the most important one”.
Great to have the curtain raiser to the men’s final but the talk is nobody will be left in Quilty, is that something to manage and how do you get the girls to block it out?
PF: “I’m hoping there will be nobody left in Doora/Barefield either. We’ve such experience in the group, nearly all of our players have played in Cusack Park at some stage and I think it is brilliant, the excitement is unbelievable, you can’t get carried away but you need to enjoy the build-up, I hope it is the first of many years of the final being in Cusack Park, from what I’ve seen of the championship this year the product that Clare LGFA have is unbelievable, so many top quality teams and if you compare it to the men’s game it is getting hard to watch and hopefully the new rules will change it, the ladies games have been a breath of fresh air, high scoring, not so many blanket defences and unbelievable talent which goes across the board, we’re playing a phenomenal Kilmurry Ibrickane and the standard is fruition of the work done from U6 up from every club in Clare”.
