Sense of carpe diem breeding Dee Johnstone and St Vincent's confidence

St Vincent's Dee Johnstone believes her club has the capabilities of seizing the day and going all the way in the AIB All-Ireland Club Camogie championship after bridging a three-year provincial drought.

The Marino side are one step away from a major national decider but face the tough challenge of reigning champions Sarsfields of Galway in Saturday's semi-final.

St Vincent's come into the game in Birr with confidence ,having reclaimed the Dublin title for the first time since 2019 and then following it up with Leinster honours after defeating Oulart-the-Ballagh in the decider.

"I think we can really go all the way," said Johnstone who feels the confidence has "flourished" especially in recent weeks.

"Winning the county, then winning Leinster, they were steps in the plans so it feels good.

"A belief has been in the team from day one this year that this team can go places if we really push ourselves and, in fairness to our management, we have pushed ourselves. Standards are quite high and there is massive belief.

"There are things to be achieved with this group of players and we just want to achieve our potential because you know you're never going to play in the same team of players again every year.

"You lose people, you get new people. It felt really good this year all the way through so we just want to keep pushing."

However, while driven to succeed, St Vincent's are very respectful of Sarsfields' recent All-Ireland record. The Galwegians are used to finding footholds at the summit, having won two of the last three titles and featured in five of the last six finals.

"It doesn't really matter who the opposition is and we've great respect for Sarsfields. They are a fantastic side," said Johnstone.

"But at the end of the day, for