Naomh Abán face a battle as they bid to reach All-Ireland final

They have been here before, but at junior level, as Naomh Abán take on Knockbride from Cavan in the AIB All-Ireland Intermediate Club football championship semi-final on Sunday.

Several years ago they lost out in the All-Ireland junior final, but this season they have shown all their battling qualities, as well as plenty of skill, to arrive at Sunday’s game, which throws in at 1pm.

First, they defeated Midleton in a tough Cork final, before heading out into the Munster championship.

In the final at Mallow they took on Clounmacon/Moyvane from Kerry, in a game worthy of any showpiece event.

It was close throughout but with 10 minutes to go Naomh Abán led by 2-7 to 0-7 and it looked done and dusted. Credit the Kerry side they scored two last goals, one six minutes into injury-time, to take it to extra-time, 2-8 apiece.

The momentum looked to be with Clounmacon/Moyvane at this point, but again the Cork outfit showed all their resilience and battling qualities to score three points and keep their opponents scoreless to eventually win by 2-11 to 2-8.

Like the St Finbarr’s and Ballincollig camogie sides, they are one game from Croke Park and they will be well aware of what’s at stake.

For most of their squad they will have the hurt of the All-Ireland loss to drive them on, and they will be determined to go one better this time of asking.

There is plenty of talent in the Naomh Abán side and they won’t fear taking on the Cavan champions, even though they have home advantage.

Players like Grace Murphy, Lydia and Amy McDonagh, Colleen Phelan, Muireann Dineen and Rosie Corkery have been involved in games like this before.

PEDIGREE

The experience that Grace, Lydia, Amy and Rosie have gained playing with Cork should stand to them as they know what they are facing and they will need to help young players like the talented Roisin Lehane on the day.

Have no doubt it will be a hostile atmosphere up there and they know that not alone are they playing Knockbride on the pitch, but also their supporters who are expected to come out in numbers on Sunday.

It’s a long trip for anyone wanting to support Naomh Abán and with that in mind the team are travelling up on Saturday to ensure that preparations are spot on.

Knockbride will be tough to get the better of. They are well battle-hardened at this stage.

In the Cavan final, they beat Gowna by 3-12 to 0-6 to advance to the Ulster championship.

They certainly didn’t have it easy and started with a preliminary round game against Carryduff, winning by 2-15 to 1-7. In the quarter-final they took on Fanad Gaels and came through by 1-8 to 0-4.

The semi-final saw them up against Lisnaskea, where they had a comprehensive win by 3-15 to 0-1. In the Ulster final they had another good win, this time defeating Brigid O’Neill’s by 3-13 to 1-6, to qualify for the All-Ireland series.

Katie Mulvey, Katie Mai Reilly, Sinead O’Reilly and Sara McCabe all made the Cavan LGFA Intermediate Team of the Year and Abbi Connor was Player of the Game in the Ulster final.

So they are not short of talent and it should be a right battle and one Naomh Abán will have to be at their best to have any chance of winning, especially with Knockbride having home advantage.