Piltown vs Lismore All Ireland Intermediate Club Final Preview

Piltown will hope that their dream of winning their first All Ireland Club Final in their history becomes a reality when they face the reigning champions Lismore in the All Ireland Intermediate club championship final in Croke Park on Sunday at 1.30pm.

Piltown will be quietly confident ahead of this game that they can get one over their opponents on Sunday. Lismore will go into this tie as favourites and deservingly so after defeating Ballyhale Shamrocks in a replay last season to claim the crown. Piltown have an impeccable record for 2014 going into this game claiming every title that was up for reckoning in Kilkenny after winning the All County League, the League and then the County Championship and added to this the Leinster Championship after a cracker of a game with Camross of Laois. Piltown qualified for Sundays decider with a hard fought contest with Clonduff of Down. Many did not know what sort challenge the Mourne side would bring to the contest, and Piltown discovered that the Clonduff team were there for the long haul in the contest and victory was only secured when Piltown went on a devastating scoring spell where they out scored their opponents 2-02 to no score in the final five minute of the contest. And this is where the game could swing the way of the Piltown women, the scoring threat they contain with Niamh Culleton, Edel Long, and county star Katie Power and Chloe Holden, but add to this Chloe Blackmore who was in outstanding form in the semi final and Georgina Culleton. They have a goal scoring threat that is second to none and can cause a headache for the Lismore defence. They back this up with a strong midfield paring of county star Laura Norris and Alice Talbot. Piltown also have a very strong defence in Carol McCarthy, Elaine Kenny, Jennifer Norris, Mairead Power, and Irish International soccer star Karen Duggan, and Kellyann Doyle .They not only have the potential of holding the dangerous attack threat of Lismore but can supply the forward line with pacey counter attacks. They back all this up with Aoife Norris who is rock solid in between the sticks all year.

So what about the opposition Lismore, well they’re not champions for no reason and they were pushed to the pin of their collar by Ballyhale Shamrocks last season and needed a replay to claim the crown. They have many county players among their ranks and this is what makes them a very formidable force. They contain many game changers with Shona Curran , Aoife Hannon and Johanna Houlihan all capable of creating havoc in any defence. Lismore also have a battling spirit finding themselves behind going into the final few minutes of last years decider to claim a draw. They also have the experience of being there last season and this is invaluable to any team. This game has all the hallmarks of being one that could go down to the wire, and if this is the case, Piltown might edge it. I feel this season Piltown had to dig deeper more in games in the final quarter to claim victories and this fighting quality was no more evident then in the Leinster final against Camross and in the All Ireland semi final against Clonduff where they produced a devastating scoring burst in the final moments of the games. And this battling spirit and drive for victory could be a deciding factor on Sunday. It has all the potential of being a cracker and your support for your county Champions on Sunday would be appreciated.