BALLYVOURNEY will host Sunday’s Lidl LGFA National League Division 2 fixture between Cork and Clare.
This will be an historic moment at Naomh Abán’s pitch as the Mid Cork club’s upgraded facilities will play host to a senior LGFA inter-county fixture for the first time.
Two years ago, in the space of seven weeks, the Cork senior ladies utilised Clonakilty GAA Club’s Ahamilla complex to host a Munster senior football championship clash with Waterford and an All-Ireland group game with Tipperary. Each game attracted over 1,000 supporters to the West Cork venue.
Now it is Ballyvourney’s turn and deservedly so. Complete with revamped meeting rooms, changing rooms, gymnasium and covered stand, the Gaeltacht club will proudly display its facilities for a national inter-county fixture.
Naomh Abán LGFA manager Noel McDonagh has a vested interest in the Cork and Clare clash. His daughters, Amy and Lydia, are on the Cork senior panel, as is their club team-mate Rosie Ní Chorcora.
Cork footballer Lydia McDonagh gets to play inter-county on her home ground.
‘Every club likes to show off their facilities, and in fairness to Naomh Abán, in the last number of years they’ve upgraded to a great extent,’ McDonagh told The Southern Star.
‘Sunday’s game is a showcase for them, really. It will be great for the local community to go out and watch the Cork senior ladies playing but also for the (local) kids. Even for ourselves involved in the Naomh Abán club, if we’re promoting ladies football, it’s a great way of doing it. People from the local area coming to see the Cork seniors playing Clare, it will be fantastic.
‘Hopefully, it will be a good day and we will get the right result. Guaranteed, there is going to be a big crowd there.’
Cork manager Joe Carroll shares Noel McDonagh’s sentiments. Acknowledging Naomh Abán’s fantastic facilities, Carroll’s decision to take one of his county’s home fixtures outside the usual environs of Páirc Uí Chaoimh or Páirc Uí Rinn is with one eye on increasing the match-day attendance.
‘Look, Ballyvourney is close to the Kerry border and there’s fierce interest in football out that way,’ said Carroll.
‘We’d be hoping that we will get a lot of support on the day against Clare. They haven’t had a great league campaign so far but, on the day, you never know. We will be preparing properly for it.
‘Naomh Abán has a fabulous set-up and we feel that we might get a crowd there on the day. It is a fine complex and a fine pitch. Like a lot of LGFA inter-county teams, we are finding it hard to get supporters out compared to other codes. That is what we are trying to do by taking this league game to Ballyvourney. Hopefully, if we advertise it well, we will get a big crowd to support Cork.’
Historic occasion aside, this is an important game for the Rebels. Currently lying second in Division 2, three points behind Galway, a victory over a struggling Clare could, depending on other results, secure Cork’s league final berth and possibly promotion.
Cork’s final league outing is an arduous trip up north to face Donegal in a fortnight’s time so getting over their Munster rivals is crucial for Cork who will be without the injured Libby Coppinger (hand injury).
‘Look, we are looking at this as a game where we can confirm our status as the number two team in the league behind Galway,’ Cork boss Joe Carroll said.
‘We certainly won't be taking Clare for granted. Playing Roscommon in our previous game, we found out they are quite a decent team, well able to play football. Any of the teams we have played in Division 2 have all been able to play football.
‘With our new management team, we feel we are making a bit of progress and playing a slightly different system than Cork played before. We are getting there slowly but surely. It will take a lot of time and there’s still a lot of work to be done.’
Little doubt that the Cork seniors are on the right path and one that includes an historic occasion in Ballyvourney on Sunday.
