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Myshall primed and ready to rekindle Leinster Championship glory days

By
LWB Reporter
-
November 22, 2022

On Sunday Myshall are aiming to win their second Leinster Intermediate club title.

Standing in their way are Kilkenny's James Stephens.

And while that name would generally be enough to send shivers down spines, if anything it's Myshall who would be much better known in Camogie terms to folk across the province and country.

In 2016 Myshall won their first Leinster at this grade and subsequently went on to win the All Ireland title in Croke Park seeing off Eglish of Tyrone by 1-10 to 1-9.

Breege Nolan played in Croker that day and has been a stalwart of the club both on and off the pitch, most recently being nominated for Carlow Camogie Volunteer of the year.

Nolan acknowledges that her team have been in serious battles this year both in Carlow and indeed in the run up to Sunday's decider.

"There’s nothing our Myshall team loves more than a tough battle. We thrive on them. As a team we have an ability to stay calm and composed when the pressure is high. We have the experience and the determination to get over the line, whether that’s by one point or ten, we don’t take any game for granted and expect a battle from every side we meet.

"There’s nothing easy about playing a Kilkenny team. We’ve no doubt James Stephen’s will bring a serious tempo to the game on Sunday, we haven’t played them before, we don’t know a whole lot about them but sometimes that works better for us as a team.

"We’ve had good days and bad days playing Kilkenny teams in the Leinster championship in the past, we were beat by Tullaroan and Piltown in the past few years. Last year we beat Conahy Shamrocks so Sunday will be interesting," said Nolan.

In addition to winning the All Ireland Intermediate Final in 2017, Myshall also captured back to back Junior All Ireland's in 2012 and 2013 along with a hat trick of Leinster Junior titles.

However Breege feels that this doesn't guarantee anything in terms of what happens going forward.

"I think past success does stand to us to some degree - success in the past reinforces our belief that we can win, we’ve done it before. It reminds us that what we want to achieve is actually doable.

"On the other hand, I always say success in the past does not guarantee success in the future - we have to perform on the day and be the better team."

Nolan also added that their is a good balance in the squad.

"We are blessed with the mix of players we have on our team. Older players bringing a wealth of experience and knowledge to the game and younger girls bringing unbelievable skill and energy.

"It’s a huge transition for players to go from U16 and Minor to Intermediate Leinster Championship - but our younger girls have what it takes to make it. Sarah Sheehan was still under 16 this year, and I’ve never seen her pull out of a tackle, ever. You can’t train toughness like that, you either have it or you don’t."

Having played in so many big games, Breege is the first to admit that she now looks at things from a slightly different angle heading in to these types of encounters.

"Someone said to me once “Myshall women know how to win” and to be honest I didn’t really understand it. When I was one of the “younger ones” on the team I kind of just winged it, I went out and hoped for the best. As I got older I started to understand that there is more to winning games than the performance on the day.

"There’s the preparation, cohesiveness of the team, belief in yourself and the team, training intensity, commitment, the list is endless. I play games now with complete trust that our team knows what it takes to win. And we hope we have another cup back in Myshall on Sunday," Nolan concluded.

It promises to be a serious battle on Sunday and throw in is at 2pm in Clane.

Photo in cover by Pat Ahern