Kiladangan ease to Minor Camogie success

CAMOGIE: FBD Insurance County Minor ‘C2’ Championship Final

Kiladangan 5-7

Nenagh Eire Og 1-3

Report: Joe Scully in Ballinderry

A strong start and emphatic finish lead the way for Kiladangan in this County Minor ‘C2’ Camogie final victory over a game Nenagh Eire Og side on Sunday afternoon.

The second half was delayed when Kiladangan’s Cara Mulcahy suffered a serious neck injury two minutes after the restart, and it would be a good fifteen minutes before the game would restart and this delay would take a lot of momentum out of the game.

Kiladangan were deserved winners, as they were the better team, but Nenagh will be disappointed with their start as they conceded three very soft goals in the opening ten minutes, the first two coming inside the opening two minutes, which gave them a mountain to climb, despite a gallant effort throughout and the sixteen point margin was probably a bit harsh on them in the end.

Nenagh had several goal chances but were denied time and again by the excellent Aoife Gleeson who pulled off some top-class saves most notably two excellent efforts near the end, from Kerrie Howard and a Clodagh Spain penalty.

Kiladangan’s raced into a 2-1 to no-score lead early on, with the first goal coming after just 68 seconds when a free from the excellent Isabelle Kingston from 45 metres somehow evaded the Nenagh keeper Niamh Boland and dropped to the back of the net.

It would be two goals less than a minute later, this time through Niamh Kelly who had an easy task to put the ball into an open net after Boland failed to rise the ball while coming out of goal and Kelly was left with an easy task to finish.

Isabelle Kingston then hit a point from play to put her side seven up after just three minutes. Eire Og would respond through an Isabel O’Farrell free before Kingston added a placed ball. Niamh Kelly then hit her second point as her long-range effort found its way to the net.

Isabel O’Farrell hit her sides second from a free, but Kingston was on the mark again not long after from another placed ball.

Nenagh, would give themselves a glimmer of hope in the 22nd minute when Eimear Brislane goaled after a free dropped short and Ella O’Brien’s effort was well-saved by Gleeson.

The final say of the half would go to the majestic Kingston to leave Kiladangan 3-4 to 1-2 in front.

The second half injury to Mulcahy really disrupting the flow of the game and it would be the 21 minutes before the opening score came through an Isabelle Kingston 45, which was then followed by an Ava Seymour point.

The game would have sixteen minutes of added time, where a Clodagh Spain penalty was saved at the expense of a point. After this Kiladangan would see out the game strongly hitting 2-1 with Niamh Kelly and Ava Seymour getting the goals with Kelly hitting the final point as Kiladangan were crowned Minor ‘C2’ champions.

Player of the Match: Isabelle Kingston (Kiladangan).

Kiladangan: Aoife Gleeson; Cara Mulcahy, Jade Connors, Meadbh Kennedy, Olibhia Mulhall, Roisin Connolly, Laoise Ryan, Ava Seymour (1-1), Isabelle Kingston (1-5 1-4f), Sadbh Fogarty, Claire Gavin, Niamh Kelly (3-1).

Subs: Katie Ryan for Mulcahy (27); Maeve Mulvihill for Connors (56).

Nenagh Eire Og: Niamh Boland; Rhiannon Jones, Samantha Howard, Laura Nagle, Kerrie Howard, Isabel O’Farrell (0-2f), Éabha O’Brien, Clodagh Spain (0-1 pen), Jennifer Treacy, Cassandra Jones, Ella O’Brien, Eimear Brislane (1-0).

Subs: Tara McTiernan for O’Brien (44); Anna O’Dwyer for Treacy (54).

Referee: Eddie Kennedy (Borrisokane).