Mullinhaone ladies ready to 'give it a lash' in All-Ireland football semi-final

Mullinahone’s meteoric rise through the ranks of ladies football will reach another milestone on Sunday when they play Derrygonnelly Harps from Fermanagh in the CurrentAccount.ie All-Ireland Intermediate Championship semi-final.

The match is scheduled for the John Lockes GAA ground in Callan, with a 1.30pm throw-in.

Mulllinahone were playing in the junior grade this time last year, but their county championship success at junior and intermediate in the past two seasons means they’re promoted to the senior grade for next year.

“We never expected to be competing in a Munster final at intermediate level this year”, says manager Mary O’Shea.

“Everything is a bonus after winning the county final.”

Mullinahone competed very well in that provincial final in Mallow earlier this month, when they beat Limerick champions Monagea by 2-4 to 0-7 to capture back-to-back Munster titles, after they won the junior equivalent last year.

Now they are bidding for a second All-Ireland final appearance in a row, after losing out to Dublin team St Jude’s in the junior decider in Baltinglass last February.

Mullinahone were underdogs in the Munster final and Mary O’Shea says that’s a position in which they’ll probably find themselves again on Sunday.

“We’ll relish that”, she says. “These girls have come on in leaps and bounds in the last 18 months. All they want to do is play football, they’re buying into it and they’re a great group of girls.”

Their opponents, Derrygonnelly Harps, who are based near Enniskillen, qualified for the last four courtesy of last weekend’s quarter-final defeat of Round Towers from London.

“Derrygonnelly have a very young, fast team and they carry a serious attacking threat”, says Mary O’Shea. “All the teams are going to be good at this stage of the championship.”

The Mullinahone manager hopes that weather conditions will allow the game to go ahead in Callan, which is only a few miles from Mullinahone, and where they can expect plenty of support.

“We played the junior semi-final there last year and there was a fabulous crowd present, even with the Covid restrictions. We’re hoping for the same again on Sunday.”

Mary O’Shea says that despite the heavy pitches, the panel is training hard to get the work done before the big game.

“We have a few tired legs but hopefully everyone will be good to go. There’s a great attitude in the camp.”

Mary O’Shea says it will be great to play senior next year. This will be the first time that the club has played at the top level since the 1970s, although there was no grading in those days.

“It’s a great achievement for a small club and we feel we’ll be able to compete with any team in the county in the senior championship”, says the manager.

But for now, the focus is firmly on Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final.

“We’ll go out and give it a lash”, says Mary O’Shea.

In Sunday’s other semi-final Longford Slashers face Charlestown of Mayo at Michael Fay Park, Longford, also at 1.30.