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Clare aim to make the step up

Colm Hanley is confident Clare can step up the senior level with ease
Colm Hanley is confident Clare can step up the senior level with ease

Following last weekend's win in the Gala All-Ireland Junior Camogie final, Clare will be looking to test themselves in the top tier of Camogie next season in the Senior Championship.

After the heartbreak of losing to an injury time goal in last year's final, Clare bounced back in equally dramatic fashion to win in Croke Park last Sunday.

Trailing by two points going into time added on, Audrey Kennedy did well to keep out a Fiona Lafferty shot but the rebound fell to Shona Enright who handpasssed the ball into the net to give Clare a historic win and their first All-Ireland in 22 years.

Clare now have the chance to either move up to the Intermediate Championship or make the big step up to the Senior Championship and join the likes of All-Ireland Champions, Cork.

Clare manager, Colm Hanley, who is joined on the sidelines by his trainer brother Eoghan, sees the choice as an easy one: 'We certainly want to make the step up to the senior Championship next year. I don't think going into the Intermediate would be beneficial to us at all.

'We've played all the Intermediate teams in the League this year and we beat most of them so the real goal for Clare should be a crack at the Senior. The talent is there, the young players are coming through too so there's no reason why we shouldn't aim big,' Hanley said.

Hanley, who is 25 and was playing club hurling with Wolfe Tones until injury halted his career two years ago, became one of the youngest managers in history to win an All-Ireland title on Sunday, following Clare's success.

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