Kilkerrin/Clonberne 2-10

Ballymacarbry 0-2

John McIntyre in Dungarvan

IN this kind of foul weather in late November – a swirling wind and sweeping rain – anything can happen. It tends to bring average teams closer to good ones, but that wasn’t the script in Dungarvan on Saturday.

It wouldn’t have mattered if there was snow on the ground or this All-Ireland Club ladies football semi-final was played in a farmer’s thistle-smothered haggard, the result would have been still the same such was the gulf in standard between the teams.

Long before the end of a one-sided encounter, Ballymacarbry – the one time aristocrats of ladies club football – were left bewildered by the sheer pace and quality of the All-Ireland champions. On their journey to a remarkable 41st consecutive Waterford title and a first provincial crown since 2002, they hadn’t encountered anything like Kilkerrin/Clonberne.

Winners of ten All-Ireland titles over a 12-year period between 1987 and 1998, Ballmacarbry’s tradition alone would have entitled them to huge respect, but this was a rude awakening for the Waterford outfit on home turf.

They didn’t manage a solitary score in the opening half and only a brace of points from interval substitute Maeve Ryan saved them from an embarrassing blank. Ballymacarbry were simply out of their depth.

In contrast, Kilkerrin/Clonberne embellished their reputation as the top force on the club scene with a swashbuckling display in tough conditions. Willie Ward’s charges were streets ahead in terms of conditioning, mobility and the intensity they brought to the exchanges.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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