A MONUMENTAL WEEK lies ahead for Clare dual star Laurie Ryan.
Two Super Sundays.
This afternoon, she’ll line out with The Banner in the Munster senior club final against Waterford champions Ballymacarbry in Mallow.
Next weekend, she captains Athlone Town in their second Women’s FAI Cup final in-a-row. Shelbourne, once again, are the opposition at Tallaght Stadium.
Oh, and yesterday evening, Ryan was in action at the same south-west Dublin venue, playing the full game as Athlone rounded out their league campaign with a dramatic 4-4 draw against Shamrock Rovers.
Impressive, to say the least.
An unfortunate fixture clash this time last year meant she missed The Banner’s provincial final defeat to Ballymac as she played in the FAI Cup final.
Twelve months on, she’s back where she wants to be, incredibly facing the same opposition in both showpieces, thankfully seven days apart, but targetting different outcomes.
“Two wins, hopefully,” Ryan, who also helped Clare to the All-Ireland intermediate final in August, grins.
“It was a very depressing day last year. We lost with Athlone and then I was like, ‘Can anyone check how my club got on?’
“It was awful. I actually was afraid to contact any of the [Banner] girls for a while after it because I just felt so guilty. Sure they thought I was crackers to be thinking like that, but it’s hard when you’re the one that has to make those decisions.
“We’re back where we wanted to be, in a Munster final again. I suppose I kind of had a chip on my shoulder after not getting to play last year. I really wanted to get back there this year and have the opportunity to play in it.”
Thankfully, it has all worked out.
For the next two weeks, anyway.
When she’s not playing football or soccer, lecturing in Athlone IT or driving between the Midlands and Ennis — “135km,” rolls off the tip of her tongue, “An hour and 20 minutes” — Ryan is scouring the internet for fixture schedules, praying to avoid clashes.
There was one particularly disappointing one last month: she missed The Banner’s county final win over West Clare Gaels because of Athlone’s FAI Cup semi-final against Sligo Rovers.
“It’s inevitable at times,” she sighs. “Obviously I was really disappointed to miss the county final. We did everything in our power to get the county board to move it because we usually always play on a Sunday, but it just wasn’t the case this year.
“I was delighted when we finally won both those days and I knew that all the clashes were potentially behind me. I love my club and I think anyone that knows me knows that I love playing for The Banner. I hadn’t missed a county final in 16 years, so to miss it this year was a big one for me.”
While Ryan helped Athlone to a 4-0 win in Sligo, The Banner powered to a 3-8 to 0-6 victory as they won their 14th county title in 16 seasons.
Cork powerhouse Mourneabbey awaited in the Munster semi-final. All-Ireland winners in 2018 and 2019, the Clyda outfit had largely dominated the provincial championship in recent years, lifting every title available from 2014 to 2021. Top-level Munster success has proved elusive for The Banner as a result, their last and only senior A title secured in 2013.
Ryan was back in situ for the Mourneabbey showdown, but typically, there was a challenge. Her 30th birthday party was pencilled in for the night beforehand.
“Orla Kilkenny, our manager, had come in to keep an eye on everyone to make sure there were no drinks being had throughout,” she laughs.
An extra-time thriller unfolded the following afternoon at Cusack Park, as The Banner’s first appearance at the county grounds proved particularly memorable.
That piece of history instilled belief, as did how close they went on the provincial stage last year. The club camogie team’s premature championship exit gave them more time together to really mount a challenge, and it all came together as a late Niamh O’Dea goal — and stunning 3-6 haul — toppled Mourneabbey.
The 3-17 to 4-13 scoreline tells you all you need to know.
“There’s a picture of everyone jumping around celebrating and I’m just sitting on the floor! I think the last play I actually blocked a ball, the referee blew the whistle and I just stayed sitting on the ground, like, ‘I cannot believe this is over’.
“It was probably more like, ‘I can’t believe we finally got over the line.’ We’ve been playing Mourneabbey for years and we had never beaten them. That is a big win for us mentally as well, that we could go to the well and keep going no matter what happened. The girls showed such resilience to keep coming back from it. It meant so much. To celebrate in Cusack Park with all our family as well meant a lot.”
A few relaxed refreshments in a further toast to her 30th year followed back at her Athlone base, before an early night. And then it was blinkers on towards the Munster final and repeating the feat of 10 years ago.
Memories are few and far between, but The Banner overcame St Val’s of Cork on that occasion with Briege Corkery — “an idol to a lot of us” — on the opposing side.
“It’s funny when you think back,” Ryan says. “How quick it goes past.
“We’ve had a few finals, but we’ve always come up short since that 2013 victory. Mourneabbey were probably the big team stopping us and then obviously Ballymac last year managed to break in. Really looking forward to playing again this year and hopefully going that one step further.”
Ballymac brought the Michael Ryan Cup back home last November, a 0-8 to 0-5 win delivering their first Munster A championship since 2000.
Astonishingly 42 in-a-row county champions, the Déise matriarchs are now looking to go back-to-back after a more straightforward semi-final win over Finuge/St Senan’s of Kerry. But Ryan and co are lining up their own assault.
“They’ll have that confidence of winning last year, they’ve beaten us most recently.
“We’ve had some battles with them over the years. The biggest thing from looking at their team and our team is the older girls have moved on, the younger girls are coming through and it’s still the same two teams battling it out.
“There’s huge talent, we’re very lucky with the younger girls in our club as well, but there’s still those old faces. I would have went to college with, and played with, Aileen Wall. I’d know how good she is. Karen McGrath. There’s so many familiar faces and they’re probably thinking the same about us as well. It’s funny, you kind of get to know them from playing against them so many times.”
While it’s solely Ballymac on the brain today, the same applies with next weekend’s FAI Cup final opponents Shelbourne.
After and up-and-down season — or rather down-and-up, as they recovered from a disappointing start to the league — Athlone Town are now gunning for national glory under the watchful eye of new manager Ciarán Kilduff.
“We felt like we were good enough to get back to a cup final, and I think we did it the hard way again,” Ryan explains.
“We had to beat Galway, Peamount and then Sligo. We haven’t had an easy run-in to the cup final, which will hopefully stand to us. We’re really looking forward to it. You learn a lot from losing a final, so we’re hoping that that will stand to us this year.”
Not only did it result in a fifth-placed finish and extend an impressive unbeaten run, yesterday’s last-gasp draw with Shamrock Rovers was a trial run, of sorts. It’s remarkable Ryan played the full 90-plus minutes, but she was simply sticking to her usual routine.
Juggling both sports is all she knows, and she seems to have struck the perfect balance in terms of load management and performance. The big question: how does she continue to do it?
“When I’m in it, I probably don’t realise how much I’m doing,” the dual star concludes. “The people around me are like, ‘Are you actually want to training again tonight?’
“I know how to manage my body at this stage. If I ever feel a niggle, I do look after myself but when you’re enjoying playing, it’s very hard to not enjoy going training and stuff like that. I think that gives me the drive to stay going.
“And I am really lucky, I have great people around me that understand if I go to them and say, ‘I need a break tonight’ or ‘I’m not feeling the best,’ that they’re like, ‘Absolutely. Not a bother.’
“The Banner have been so understanding of me. Being away from Ennis, I’m not always available for training. They’ve been fantastic and really supportive of me in my soccer, same with Clare and everything else, that they don’t have me 100% for training but they work with me and when you have people that are willing to do that, it’s very easy to manage it.
“The travelling is tough at times, but you do get used to it and I’m very lucky, my family and my boyfriend row in behind me and help me where they can by driving me and stuff.”
First stop Mallow this afternoon.
Then it’s destination Tallaght next weekend.
Two Super Sundays, with plenty of other trips in between.
- Munster senior ladies football final: The Banner (Clare) v Ballymacarbry (Waterford), Mallow, 3.15pm.
