By DAIRE WALSH
She made it through to an AIB All-Ireland intermediate club camogie championship final last December and now Emma Reaney finds herself just 60 minutes away from achieving a similar feat in the colours of the Caltra Cuans footballers.
Along with a number of her big ball colleagues, Reaney claimed top honours with Ahascragh/Caltra in the Galway and Connacht intermediate camogie championships in 2024 before eventually qualifying for an All-Ireland decider at Croke Park off the back of a semi-final victory over Tyrone club Eglish.
Relegation from the Galway senior championship made 2024 a disappointing year on the club football front for Caltra Cuans, but last month’s intermediate county final success over Tuam/Cortoon has seen them seal an automatic return to the top-tier for 2026.
Reaney scored 1-2 in that victory and recorded the same personal tally when Caltra claimed a Connacht intermediate title with a 3-9 to 0-9 victory against St Barry’s of Roscommon in Kiltoom last Saturday.
The result of next weekend’s quarter-final clash between St Fechin’s (Louth) and Holloway Gaels (London) is set to determine who their last-four opponents will be, but Reaney and her team-mates are eager to continue their hard work behind the scenes in the meantime.
“Having that experience from last year has given us great belief that we can get back to Croke Park. Nobody thought we would do it with the camogie last year either and we did. With hard work and determination we got there. Most of us, the majority of us, are dual players,” Reaney acknowledged.
“That experience will stand to us and we’re used to training in the winter now as well. Hopefully it won’t be a shock to the system as much as it was last year. Going forward, if we do get to Croke Park, that experience should come into it.
“Annoying to have to wait [for their semi-final opponents]. We’ll be keeping an eye out for that, but for the next two weeks the focus will be on ourselves anyway. It’s very obvious from the Claremorris and St Barry’s games that our start has to be a lot better. Especially going into the All-Ireland series. That won’t sustain unless we start well.”
There is a strong pedigree within the current Caltra Cuans squad as a number of them featured when the club came out on top in the 2010 edition of the All-Ireland junior championship – in a replayed encounter against St Enda’s Omagh that took place in Mullahoran on January 23, 2011. Caltra went on from there to win Galway and Connacht intermediate titles in the latter year, before ultimately falling short to Parnells of London in an All-Ireland intermediate club championship quarter-final.
“I remember I was very young myself. My Dad brought me up to that and we were watching it, it went to a replay. There is quite a few still involved. You’d have Sarah [Noone] and Laura Naughton. Emma Naughton, Orlaith Hannon. All those experienced players and they offer so much to the team,” Reaney recalled.
“We’ve such a well-balanced team age wise and the young girls can be nervous, and can sometimes show the nerves. Then you have the experience of the older girls. Once they get into the game then, it balances everything out.
“They have great experience playing in All-Ireland finals and then the following year they went on to intermediate to win county and Connacht as well. They probably didn’t think that they’d ever get back here. They stopped at Connacht last time and they’re really trying to get to the All-Ireland now this year and go one step further.”
In that aforementioned All-Ireland intermediate club championship final at GAA HQ on December 15, 2024, Reaney and Ahascragh/Caltra were on the receiving end of a comprehensive defeat to Kerry’s Clanmaurice. A little over four months earlier, the primary school teacher and her club-mates Aoife Ni Cheallaigh and Maryanne Jordan (both of whom are currently sidelined with anterior cruciate ligament injuries) started for Galway in their 3-14 to 0-11 loss at the hands of Kerry in the TG4 All-Ireland senior football championship final in Croke Park.
Although both of her visits to the Jones’ Road venue ended in disappointment, Reaney – who wasn’t part of the Galway squad this year - still looks back fondly on her football and camogie exploits in 2024.
“It was a great year. Reaching two All-Ireland finals was amazing, but then the result on both days didn’t go our way against two Kerry teams. Even though it was disappointing, it was great to get there. Then you learn from those experiences.
“Both days didn’t go well, but you don’t think about those. You park those days and you focus on what you can do next. Because if that gets into your head, then it’s not going to go anywhere for you. The experience of getting up there was great and hopefully if we get there again, it will be a better day out for Caltra.”
While a tough battle will await them in their upcoming semi-final against either St Fechin’s or Holloway Gaels on the weekend of November 29/30, there is a clear determination within the Caltra Cuans ranks to feature in the AIB All-Ireland intermediate club championship showpiece during the month of December.
Their county and provincial successes to date have already ensured it will be a memorable year for the Tribeswomen, but they are hopeful of extending their season a little further.
“It would absolutely be amazing. There’s no denying it. Now that we’ve gotten this far, we’re really hungry to win. Even though people say it’s amazing to win the county and then go on and win the Connacht, we’re only 60 minutes away from Croke Park. Being in an All-Ireland final, so why not give us that chance,” Reaney added.
“Damien is our stats man and he had a great quote for us in one of our meetings last week. He said ‘why come this far, to only come this far’. We’ve really bought into that. We’re already training during the winter, so why not go for it and try to get over the line the next day and get to Croke Park.”
