Back for more, St Joseph’s Ladies aim for Intermediate Championship glory

The St Joseph’s Ladies football team is set to compete in the Intermediate final for the second consecutive year after losing to Shanahoe in the 2023 final.

Ahead of the match, players Lorna Butler and Niamh Crosby, along with joint manager Aidan Rowan and Chairman Barry Knowles, shared their thoughts during the Laois LGFA media night at the LOETB Portlaoise Institute last Friday.

Lorna Butler expressed that their primary objective for 2024 was to reach the county final again. The team also reached the Division One league final against Portlaoise, who will be playing in the Senior final on the same day.

“It’s been the main aim since the start of the year. Winning this year was always part of the plan, while reaching the league final was more of a bonus. The championship has been our main priority, especially considering last year,” Butler said.

Niamh Crosby reflected on the lessons learned from their county final defeat to Shanahoe in Stradbally last year.

“I think we took a lot of lessons from the Shanahoe match. We were down by quite a bit at half-time but managed to narrow the gap to two points. We lost by four in the end, but Shanahoe definitely taught us some valuable lessons, and the disappointment from last year will drive us on this time,” Crosby remarked.

However, preparations for St Joseph’s haven’t been ideal, as they haven’t played a match in a month. They received walkovers in both their final group game and the semi-final, while Graiguecullen had to fight through a semi-final to reach the final.

“We topped the group, but it was disappointing to get walkovers in our last two matches. This isn’t the best preparation, and it’s difficult to arrange challenge matches in such scenarios. Still, we had a strong league campaign against senior teams and are happy to have reached the Division One league final,” Rowan said.

When asked where they believe the game will be won or lost, Rowan shared his insights.

“I expect it will be really tight for the first 15-20 minutes, as it usually is against Graigue. We have a high level of fitness, and I’m confident we’re ready. We’ve trained 85 times this year and put in a lot of work, so if it’s close with 10 minutes to go, I believe we’ll have enough to see us through,” Rowan added.

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This year, the Intermediate final will be held at Laois Hire O’Moore Park, a change from the 2023 final in Stradbally. The importance of playing in the county stadium isn’t lost on the team.

“Playing in O’Moore Park is a huge opportunity for promoting the ladies’ game. It’s significant for the girls to run out onto such a prestigious pitch instead of smaller venues like Stradbally or Portarlington. Our goal is to lift the cup, regardless of how we get there,” Knowles stated.

The management believes that St Joseph’s has demonstrated they can compete at a senior level, should they win the championship and move up.

“Our performance in the Division One league final shows we can compete. We were narrowly beaten by Portlaoise, a team that’s been a strong senior contender for years, so we’re confident we can handle the step up,” Barry remarked.

Despite facing several long-term injuries this season, the management feels optimistic about next year, regardless of the grade they play, once the injured players return. They also highlighted the promising young talent coming up through the ranks.

“It’s important to acknowledge the number of injuries we’ve had this year. We started with Lauren Rowan’s ACL injury, followed by Caoimhe Lacey and Emily Moore, who both suffered serious injuries in the first round against Graigue. Regardless of whether we play at intermediate or senior level next year, I believe we have a big year ahead, especially with young talents like Reiltin Hooney, Ava Shanahan—an outstanding goalkeeper at just 18 years old—Ava Rowan, and Abbey O'Brien. We’re in a good position moving forward,” Rowan concluded.