Clodagh confident Burrishoole can continue momentum

In what has been a championship full of drama, Burrishoole bringing an end to Westport’s reign as champions is one of the stories of the season.

After winning the last two senior ladies titles, Westport looked on course for three-in-a-row, but Burrishoole ripped up the script with a 1-12 to 2-8 win in the semi-finals.

Awaiting them in the final are Knockmore. For Clodagh McManamon, playing the role of the underdog is one she says Burrishoole have enjoyed, and admitted it was nice to prove people wrong with their win over Westport.

“I would say nobody outside our own dressing room could believe we could do it. Our management and players believed we could do it, but I don’t think anyone in our club believed we could do it.

“It is nice to prove people wrong and we are a good team and beat the likes of Westport and hopefully the likes of Knockmore.

“We have a small pool of players, but we have quality players, and that is the main thing.” 

Cloadgh McManamon been part of plenty of big days with her club, and winning another county senior championship would be a huge moment for herself and the club.

Importantly, it would show the players in underage teams what can be achieved when teams stick together.

“I think it would be amazing for the club, the younger girls especially.

“In the underage teams, we wouldn’t be playing in ‘A’ in many of the categories, so it is massive for our senior team to be playing at the top level.

“There are some really good players coming through, but we don’t have the numbers that other clubs have, so it is really important that we keep the girls playing that are underage at the minute.

“When I was under 16, I had to play for Castlebar; we didn’t have enough players. We don’t want that to happen again; we want to keep the girls playing.” 

The club last won the title in 2022, but senior members of the squad are all too aware of the hard work the club had to put in over the years to compete at senior level.

It was a day to remember for Clodagh, and a reminder that days like this do not come around too often, something she wants to remind young players in the squad.

“I think the younger girls don’t realise days like this are few and far between to be honest.

“I have won a few Connacht titles with Mayo and a Division Two title, but the best day of football for me was winning a county senior title with my club in 2022.

“I was 30 at the time. Just playing with your family, my sisters and my dad would be involved as well. You can’t beat it really.” 

Should Burrishoole win, the titles since 2021 would be shared between Westport, Knockmore and themselves.

Clodagh believes this is good for the championship, and will inspire other clubs with confidence that they can compete.

“It is good to see the same people aren’t winning all the time. If we were to go on and beat Knockmore, we would have two county titles, and Westport would have two.

“I think it would help the other teams in the competition realise it really is anyone’s game if you can get yourselves together.

“We drew with Claremorris in our second game, so Claremorris next year will be like we nearly beat Burrishoole and they got to a county final. Kilmovee did really well against Knockmore as well, so it is good to see.”