Awesome Eoghan Rua claim NWP Recycling Senior Championship

Ulster’s two leading clubs over the past five years clashed in the NWP Recycling Ulster Senior Club Championship Final in Owenbeg as Eoghan Rua of Coleraine produced a fantastic display to over power Antrim kingpins O’Donovan Rossa. From the off Eoghan Rua showcased superb stickwork and intensity which Rossa were unable to match.

Eoghan Rua were clear winners in this game which finished 4-10 to 0-03 against a much changed Rossa side who were missing many players from their last number of campaigns. Eoghan Rua who won back to back All-Ireland Intermediate Championships in 2010 and 2011 will now go into their first All-Ireland Senior Championship Semi-Final. Eoghan Rua manager Joe Passmore was quick to pay tribute to Rossa ‘ We played very well today, probably as well as we have done all year and we worked towards peaking at this time. Rossa set the benchmark for Ulster Camogie and they have quality players throughout their squad. If you want to win an Ulster title you’d love to do it against Rossa’. 

Eoghan Rua captain Méabh McGoldrick also echoed those sentiments of Passmore and said how being underdogs for once in an Ulster Championship game benefited her side. ‘We are really pleased with that victory today. Even though we have won Intermediate titles we always felt we could compete at Senior level. Now playing in Senior is great for ourselves and now we know we can compete at this level. Rossa represented Ulster with a lot of distinction for a good number of years and we were coming into the game as underdogs due to the Rossa reputation and it was easy for us to come our very hungry as we haven’t played at this level. We had a bit of freedom there and all the girls were really up for it and we were relaxed as the pressure was of a bit’.

Eoghan Rua can now go into the another winter training camp but this time it is with a difference Joe Passmore now has to prepare his side for sterner opposition to what they have ever faced before. ‘We’ll enjoy this Senior Championship before looking towards All-Ireland. We will be playing the Munster Champions which will be a whole new ball game. We’ll take a few weeks break but we have an idea of the programme of how to do things but I’ll speak to some others who have been in this situation also who have played senior level and we’ll get in as many games as we can before our Semi-Final’.

Eoghan Rua 4-10 O’Donovan Rossa 0-03