Connaughton gutted but proud of Raharney’s ‘super women’
A crestfallen Raharney manager Padraic Connaughton paid tribute to his “super women” after their agonising extra-time defeat to Clanmaurice in Sunday’s AIB All-Ireland junior ‘A’ camogie semi-final.
The Deelsiders’ reign as All-Ireland champions lasted just six weeks as their old rivals from Kerry snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the Banagher storm.
“It happened to us before in the 2018 Leinster final and it happened to us on December 1, 2019 (against Clanmaurice in that year’s All-Ireland final replay),” Connaughton started off by saying.
“It (losing) will either go two ways for us. It’ll harden us up or it’ll go by the wayside. I’d say it will harden us up and make us want to come back more.”
Raharney held their Kerry opponents scoreless for 27 minutes of the second half, only to be caught by two late points.
“We were looking at the clock and we thought we were there. We thought time was up,” the former Raharney and Westmeath hurler admitted.
“We’ve done that to teams before as well, we’ve scored in the last few minutes. That’s sport. We’ll learn from it. We have an influx of youth coming in, we’ll strengthen that team.
“We’ll just go back to Westmeath and get ready for the first round of the league and see what the championship brings. The championship is going to be tough, but we’ll be a stronger team.”
Connaughton concluded by singing the praises of his players and the wonderful Raharney supporters who braved the elements to make the relatively short journey to Banagher.
“Since I took over in 2018, the support has been unreal. It brought a lot of life to the village over the past two years, particularly during Covid. People were looking forward to all the games. We thought we’d give them one more, but it wasn’t to be.
“But I’m just so proud of the players. They’re just super women and they’ll come back. That’s the mentality.”
Connaughton’s opposite number, Mike Enright, also paid tribute to Raharney. “There’s a great rivalry between ourselves and them,” he acknowledged.
“They were great champions. It was a right battle. They beat us in January. It’s amazing to think we’re back in an All-Ireland final again in the space of two months.
He continued: “I thought at stages it was gone from us, but we kept fighting back. You have to give the (Clanmaurice) girls magnificent compliments for their courage, effort and belief. They never give up.”