Aoife Prendergast: ‘Supporters don’t have to choose between hurling and the camogie anymore’
Aoife Prendergast has called on Kilkenny supporters to get behind the county’s camogie side for their All-Ireland senior championship game at Croke Park on Saturday.
For the second season in succession, this weekend will see both of the Noresiders’ small ball teams playing as part of a championship double-header in GAA HQ. Before the Kilkenny hurlers claimed a place in the All-Ireland senior decider with victory against Clare on July 9 of last year, their camogie equivalents agonisingly lost out by the slenderest of margins to Cork in a nail-biting curtain-raiser at the north Dublin venue.
Whereas their male counterparts are once again locking horns with Clare for a spot in the forthcoming Liam MacCarthy showpiece this Saturday (3pm), Kilkenny’s camogie outfit are hoping to avoid a second consecutive quarter-final reversal when they take on provincial rivals Dublin (12.30pm).
Speaking at a camogie championship quarter-final launch in Croke Park on Tuesday, Dicksboro clubwoman Prendergast said she is hopeful the Marble County’s two teams being in the one ground can attract a healthy crowd to their tussle with the Sky Blues.
“Our Leinster final [also against Dublin] a few weeks ago, Kilkenny and Dublin were playing that evening. The crowd at our match probably wasn’t what we would have liked it to be, but hopefully it will bring a crowd,” Prendergast remarked.
“There’s no supporters that have to choose between the hurling and the camogie now. They have the opportunity to go to both, which is great.
“Hopefully all the supporters will come in before the hurling and make sure that they’re there to support us. Because we’re going to need all the support we can get to get over the line on Saturday. It’s great to be before the men’s match as well.”
Following that 2-14 to 2-13 success over 2022 champions Kilkenny at the quarter-final stage of last year’s championship, Cork went on to secure the O’Duffy Cup for the first time since 2018 with subsequent knockout wins over Galway and Waterford – who will meet in the other senior camogie quarter-final at Croke Park on Sunday.
A three-point group stage loss at the hands of Tipperary in The Ragg last weekend has put an extra obstacle in front of them, but Prendergast and her Kilkenny colleagues are fully focused on reigniting their championship challenge on Saturday.
“You can’t beat having matches, but it’s about getting over these matches now and getting onto the next stages is the crucial part of it. There’s no point being in a quarter-final now if you can’t get over the line on the day. Hopefully we can bring a good performance for this weekend and we’ll see what happens,” Prendergast added.
“We were disappointed after the match last weekend, but we need to move on from that fairly quick. We’ll regroup and refocus, and our attention turns to Saturday. We were disappointed, but Tipp are a great team and they put up a great fight against us. We’re going to have to be ready now for Saturday.”