BACKBONED by several players from Killarney, Intermediate School Killorglin will go in search of national glory in the coming weeks as they take on Loreto of Cavan in the All-Ireland Junior Football Championship final.
The big game has been fixed for Friday, April 20 with a venue and throw-in time to be confirmed.
Between 1996 and 2007 Kerry teams contested 11 All-Ireland Junior A finals, with ISK and Coláiste na Sceilge both winning three-in-a-row each. Killorglin added another title in 2005 and lost the 2007 final but no Kerry team has reached that level since then.
The seeds have continued to be sown, however, most notably when Intermediate School Killorglin beat Tuam of Galway to claim the All Ireland Junior B title in 2016. The currentyear has been a good one for ladies GAA at college level and ISK has been the leading light.
They opened their Junior A campaign with convincing wins over Christ the King and Loreto, Fermoy to top their group and qualify for the knockout stages. John the Baptist were a tougher proposition in the Munster semi-final but a well-drilled ISK showed their class to emerge with a bit to spare.
Loreto Clonmel had ended their Senior A campaign just two weeks earlier and they are now in the All Ireland final. ISK had learned lessons from that defeat, though, and this time a great team performance saw them win out in extra-time after a great game.
The next one was even harder as the All-Ireland semi-final against Loreto, Navan was re-fixed because of the snow. That didn’t deter ISK who were able to switch on to a higher gear when needed and won out a tough battle.
IS Killorglin don’t rely on star players as their best asset is undoubtedly their cohesion and speed at the basic skills but the positional sense and composure of sweeping linchpin Mairín Duffy, the industrial verve of team captain Cora Joy, and the razor sharp-shooting of Roisin Griffin, in particular, are stand-outs.
The management team is very quick to heap praise on this team’s attitude, application and work rate. A very determined and talented bunch of young ladies who will be looking forward to getting the chance playing in the decider of the top level of junior PPS football.
The panel is made up of girls from first to fourth year and includes club players from Laune Rangers, Cromane, Beaufort, Fossa, Kilcummin and two sisters from Chorca Dhuibhne.
ISK panel: Claire Fealey, Andrea Nolan, Eimear O’Connor, Kayleigh McGlashan, Shannon Foley, Beibhinn Brosnan, Orla Dunphy, Rachel Evans, Ailbhe Clifford, Nicole Moriarty, Cora Joy (capt.), Eimear Burke, Mairín Duffy, Roisín Griffin, Fodhla Houlihan, Caitlin McMahon, Leanne Hayes, Nicole Moriarty, Tara Clifford, Sinead O’Neill, Amy Dunphy, Christina O’Brien, Hannah McGeever, Nessa Healy, Melanie Sugrue, Maeve Bellew, Grainne O’Connor, Holly Clifford, Aoife Nash Freeman, Orla O’Brien, Ailbhe Brosnan, Laura Leslie
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