Camogie player, Ursula Jacob (Oulart the Ballagh, Wexford) pictured ahead of one of #TheToughest showdowns of the year, as reigning champions, Oulart, face and Scariff Ogonnelloe (Clare) in the AIB Senior Camogie Club All-Ireland Championship semi-final this Sunday, February 20th at 1:30pm at Clonmel Commercials GAA (Tipperary).
By John Harrington
Ursula Jacob will remember these last few months for the rest of her life.
Between winning the delayed 2020 AIB All-Ireland Club Camogie Final, getting married, and then winning another Leinster title, there’s been no shortage of red-letter events.
It’s still all go, because next up is Sunday’s AIB All-Ireland Club Camogie semi-final against Scariff-Ogonnelloe.
“You could say that alright, it’s been a hectic few months between everything,” says Jacob.
“But, at the same time, it’s been a brilliant few months. It’s been very difficult for everyone over the past couple of years but the camogie has been a brilliant distraction from all things Covid-related.
“Then obviously from a personal point of view, I only got married in December just after we won the All-Ireland. So, it’s been a manic few months but I wouldn’t have changed it for the world. Thankfully, both the wedding and the All-Ireland went well so I’m now a happily married woman and looking forward to the game on Sunday.
“It was great in one way because those games were one week after the other.
“St Judes, Thomastown [Leinster final], Slaughtneil and then Sarsfields. When you win that All-Ireland, you know you’re after coming through the toughest route possible. And to top it off then, between myself and Stacey (Kehoe), we both had our weddings to look forward to. I’m just grateful that mine wasn’t the day before the final!”
Jacob has been playing senior club hurling since for 22 years now, so since before many of her current team-mates were born.
Ursula Jacob of Oulart the Ballagh celebrates with a supporter after the 2020 AIB All-Ireland Senior Club Camogie Championship Final match between Sarsfields and Oulart the Ballagh at UMPC Nowlan Park, Kilkenny.
The 2020 All-Ireland club title was the third she’s won, but the most special of all because it came at a stage in her career where she keenly appreciates the window of opportunity will soon shut for good.
"I can't speak highly enough of the panel of girls,” she says. “And I say panel, because without a doubt we wouldn't have won last year without the full panel of players driving each other on.
“We’re a very close knit bunch of girls, we’re all from Oulart-The-Ballagh. From Primary School right up, we’ve all been playing and in each other’s pockets and I think that stands in a club team because when you're in a tough battle on the pitch you want someone to back you up and you always known that you'll have someone there beside you.
“I suppose I definitely would agree that at this stage of my career, and the likes of Mary Leacy and that, we’ve been playing with Oulart senior teams since we were 14. Now I'm 36 years of age and 22 years later we’re enjoying it just as much and it probably means even more because each game you now get to play, you're like, that’s a bonus.
“We probably would have been disappointed over the last couple of years that we were reaching the county final but didn’t get through. Something maybe changed in the attitude in the last couple of years where we said, look, we know we're a talented bunch, we know the potenital is there.
“And we just really worked hard throughout those lockdowns. The individual responsibility is probably what stood out for me. We couldn't rely on the collective training so we had to be self-motivated.
"What I saw everyone doing whether you were the last captain of the team or the last sub on the panel was everyone giving the full commitment. It probably kept us all going throughout the lockdown and it definitely stood to us then in those tough games because we knew we had put the work in.”
Ursula Jacob of Oulart the Ballagh is tackled by Laura Ward of Sarsfields during the 2020 AIB All-Ireland Senior Club Camogie Championship Final match between Sarsfields and Oulart the Ballagh at UMPC Nowlan Park, Kilkenny.
Perhaps not surprisingly, they struggled to hit the same heights they did in the 2020 All-Ireland Final against Sarsfields in the Leinster Final win over Dicksboro three weeks ago.
There was an element of ring-rust as they laboured to the two-point victory, and Jacob hopes the benefit of that match will be felt on Sunday when they play Scariff-Ogonnelloe.
“We're delighted we got through the Leinster Final but we know we have to up our performance on Sunday against Scariff because they're a top-class team, they've won two out of the last three Munster Finals,” says Jacob.
They nearly beat Slaughtneil a couple of years ago so we're not going into this game under any illusions and we're not looking past Scariff on Sunday. We know it's going to be a huge game, but we're looking forward to it as well.
“We've had three weeks of training since the Leinster Final and things have been going well. All we have to do now is look forward to the game on Sunday.”
AIB All-Ireland Club Senior Camogie semi-finals
Saturday, February 19
Sarsfields (Galway) v Slaughtneil )Derry), Kingspan Breffni, 2.00pm.
Sunday, February 20
Oulart the Ballagh (Wexford) v Scariff Ogonnelloe (Clare), Clonmel Commericals GAA, 1.30pm.
