Wilson confident ahead of All-Ireland Semi-Final

St Johns won the Belfast derby in the NWP Recycling Ulster Junior Championship Final against Bredagh and now are preparing for Sundays encounter with Scariff/Ogonelloe from Clare in Ashbourne. Johnnies captain Helen Wilson is eager for her team to keep making history in pursuit of All-Ireland success

‘St John’s have never participated in a Camogie All-Ireland Semi-Final so this teams making a bit of history already but we do not want to stop there and hope we go from here. The supporters in the club have been great. There’s buses being organised and everyone is really behind us’.

St John’s strong first half against Bredagh meant that despite a battling performance from their neighbours from the south of the city, the result was never really in doubt. Helen believes the strength of their backs and midfielder Meabh Laverty was key to success.

Meabh Laverty was excellent at midfield and went through an awful lot of dirty work and carried the ball through the field for us which was very important. Una Simpson was key on the day in the half back line and Eimear Grieve was her usual steady self. Sarah Jane McGuigan marked Bredagh’ s best forward on the day and kept her out of the game which gave us great confidence. It was a battling performance and the weather conditions were quite tough on the day but we worked well as a team and we are delighted to win an Ulster Championship and go on now to an All-Ireland Semi-Final this weekend.

Clare outfit Scariff/ Ogonelloe had to play their Munster Final on Saturday 26 ^th October followed by the AIB All-Ireland Quarter Final the next day which provided St John’s manager Malachy McToal to run his eye over this weekend’s opponents however Wilson believes that her side will focus on their own game plan.

Our manager Malachy was able to see their quarter final with Tara of London so we know a bit about them but we’ll go on and concentrate on our own game. We played UUJ last week in a challenge game and we with no big gap between the games we’ll be well prepared. We’ll focus on Sunday only and battle to secure a win in Ashbourne. We know bits and pieces about Scariff/Ogonelloe, they won the Kilmacud Shield in September as well as the Munster title. We usually participate at Kilmacud but couldn’t due to a club wedding so we know that for them to be successful at Kilmacud and in Munster they must be a strong team.

Pictured- Helen Wilson receives the NWP Recycling Ulster Junior Championship Cup from Ulster Camogie Chairperson Kathleen Woods