The All-Ireland is what we all dream about says Kildare captain Grace Clifford

Although a part of the 2016 All-Ireland Intermediate Championship winning squad, current Kildare captain Grace Clifford was confined to the sideline when Kildare beat Clare a year on from their heartache against Waterford.

Clifford was out with a knee injury and while happy to be a part of the jubilant celebrations, she fully plans on leading her side onto the field and to victory on August 13 in Croke Park.

“To watch on in 2016, you’d give everything to be on the field, especially after the loss the year before. I always had the aspiration to get back to Croke Park with Kildare and I believed more than ever this year that it was a possibility that we could do it. With this group of players, everything came together with a nice mix of old and young,” Clifford said.

“We have played Clare already this year, but it’s a new game and we are looking forward to it and really enjoying the build-up.”

The Kildare captain was also asked about her duty as captain, alongside the four other members of the 2016 squad that still remain, to guide the younger and less experienced players on the big day in Croke Park.

“The All-Ireland is probably what we all dream of but we have had a league final this year, which was huge. There was so much pressure on that, we knew how important it was to get out of Division 3. I’ll be honest, I have played in an All-ireland final and I'm not saying it was as much pressure as that but there was so much on that game,” Clifford said.

DUCK TO WATER
“The younger ones took to it like a duck to water, probably more than the older ones. But you have the likes of Ruth Sargent there. She has only gone into her first year of college and she has won a O’Connor Cup, Division 1 with DCU, Senior County (Championship) with Eadestown, the league with us this year.

“She has won a lot more silverware than some of the older players and personally I find the younger generation admirable. I have no concern for them there, we’ll all be excited, playing in Croke Park is what you dream of.”

Clifford is also one of the player’s that has had the most knowledge of the opposition sideline with Wayne Freeman and Brian Willis’ prior roles in the Eadestown set-up.

“I wouldn’t look into it as a thing at all, we had a very successful time for the club and that was fantastic,” she said. But when I cross the white line, it’s about representing my county, it doesn’t affect me who is on the opposing line and I am sure they are the same. They have to do their job and that is how it is, I wouldn’t really worry about it too much. It’s just another game of football, at the end we can all talk and be friends.”

The Eadestown midfielder perhaps summed up the feeling of the entire Kildare fan base after her side navigated their last three games en-route to the final. When asked to analyse their topsy-turvy run in recent weeks she had a straightforward response.

“We have won all our games,” she laughed. Some of them haven’t been pretty, some haven’t been exactly how we wanted to execute them, but as much as you have to try to focus on yourself, the opposition and how they set up effects that too.

Adding, “You are of course looking for the all-round performance on the final day in Croke Park but what a place for it. Everyone is moving well and I have no doubts that we’ll do it on the day.”