The Camogie Zone

A win for Tipp in Relegation battle

Tipperary 3-10

Kildare 2-7

Three second half goals drove Tipperary to victory in the Littlewoods Ireland division 2 relegation final on Saturday against Kildare in Stradbally GAA. Played in perfect conditions Tipperary took an early 3 point lead with Aoife McLoughney and Clodagh Horgan getting their names on the scoreboard. Kildare responded with frees from Emer Reilly their key attacker who finished top scorer with 6 points. Both sides were guilty of poor handling and some sloppy clearances in the opening half but ultimately it was Tipperary’s attack who looked much more threatening while Kildare relied on Emer Reilly to score all their scores in the opening half from frees. At the other end Sinead Meagher and Claire Stakelum added points from play to Aoife McLoughney’s first half tally of 4 points from frees to leave the half time score 8 points to 3.

Conditions were perfect for Camogie in Stradbally and Tipperary started the second half brightly when Sinead Meagher was fouled for a penalty. Aoife McLoughney was judged to have broke the line when taking the resultant penalty and a throw in ensued. This seemed to spur on the Kildare side and with Ellen Morgan and Emma Barry getting on top in the half backline they started to drive at the Tipperary defence and began to make an impact on Tipps lead. Two more points from Emer Reilly from a free and play reduced Tipp’s lead to 3 points, 8 points to 5 with Tipperary yet to score. Midway through the second half Amy Crosse won a free in her own half backline which Mags Quigley took. The centre back got a superb connection on it and landed the free down on top of the influential Sinead Meagher who caught it brilliantly before laying a handpass off to Claire Stakelum who had broken free from her marker. The Holycross Ballycahill club woman made no mistake in firing the shot passed Leah Sutton in the Kildare goal. The goal was a huge boost to Tipp and they really grew in confidence from here.  The passing and movement got slicker and sharper to carve open the Kildare defence twice more with Sinead Meagher on hand to finish with two goals. This put Tipperary in the driving seat as they now led 3-8 to 6 points. Credit to Kildare however they refused to give up their fight and their second half substitutes in particular made a real impact of the bench, Sara Carroll and Aoife McDermot both introduced at the interval linked up well in attack with Carroll finishing to the back of the net. With time running out Ally Morgan followed in a long range free to deceive the Tipperary defence and reduce the lead further. Kildare needed the next score but instead a long ball into Meagher the danger woman from Kiladangan resulted in a superb catch. She then turned and fired the ball over the cross bar to cement Tipperary’s place in next year’s division 2  league. Final score Tipperary 3-10, Kildare 2-7. For Tipperary Ciara Cummins put in a huge shift in midfield covering every blade of grass and spoiling lots of Kildare possession. Mags Quigley was commanding at centre back while up front the forward unit as a whole showed great urgency and link up play along with plenty of classy scores. A good finish to the league with an important and timely win heading into the provincial and All-Ireland series.

Tipperary: Ciara Houlihan, Maebh Eile Ryan, Rachel Maher, Aoibheann Ward, Ashling Sheedy, Mags Quigley, Caoimhe McCormack, Amy Crosse, Ciara Cummins, Ciara McKeogh, Rachel O’Dwyer, Clodagh Horgan (0-2), Aoife McLoughney (0-4, 4 frees) Sinead Meagher (2-2), Claire Stakelum (1-2)

Subs used: Saoirse McGrath, Emily Morrissey,

Munster Minor A Championship Round 1

Tipperary 0-10

Cork  2-07

After Extra time

Tipperary met Cork on Friday evening in the County Camogie Grounds the Ragg in the opening game of the Munster Minor A championship. Having lost out to Cork last month by a single point in the All-Ireland semi-final, Tipperary were determined to reverse the result this time around. It was Cork though who got off to a dream start with a goal from Tara Crowley in the opening few minutes. The Tipp response was good with points from Anna Fahie and Grace Moloney from play while Lisa O’Connor (2) and Celine Guinan (1) both had points from placed balls to leave the half time score 1-2 to 5 points. There was nothing to separate the sides in the second half with both teams registering 3 further points to bring the game to extra time. Emma O’Sullivan scoring a crucial point after being introduced into the fray while Orla O’Brien also raised a white flag with a good score from midfield. Molly O’Dwyer was called upon to pull off some great saves throughout the match which indicated the goal threat the Cork team possessed. There was nothing she could do to stop their brilliantly executed goal in extra time which ultimately was the difference between the two teams. Tipp had plenty of opportunities to pull away from the All-Ireland champions and grab a win at various stages of the contest. Unfortunately, too many shots were dropped short into the keeper’s hands along with a number of poor wides. Clonoulty Rossmore’s Lorna Ryan was excellent in defence while up front Anna Fahie and Kate Ralph were a constant threat to the Cork rear-guard. For Cork Fiona Touhy was their standout performer and the All-Ireland champions showed all their experience to grind out a win and secure a place in the Munster semi-final. In the other game of the weekend Waterford had a big win over Clare. Clare will now play Limerick in round 2 with the looser of this game to play Tipperary on April 23^rd with the winner booking a spot in the Munster semi-final.

Tipperary: Molly O’Dwyer, Lillie Fahie, Maebh Ryan,Ella O’Dwyer,Lorna Ryan, Abbie Lenihan, Emma Horgan, Kate Ferncombe, Orla O’Brien, Aoife Dwyer, Kate Ralph, Grace Moloney, Lisa O’Connor, Celine Guinan, Anna Fahie. Subs used: Cora Heffernan, Emma Darcy, Emma O’Sullivan, Danielle Ryan,

2022 Adult League Results weekend 9^th/10^th April

Senior League

Nenagh Eire Og 2-01  Drom-Inch 5-14

Silvermines 4-08 Eire Og Annacarty 3-16

Intermediate League

Shannon Rovers 1-06 Kilruane MacDonagh’s 3-05

Boherlahan Dualla 6-08 Toomevara 0-06

Junior A 

Kiladangan 3-13 Lorrha 1-09

Brian Borus 3-07 Moneygall 1-05

Holycross Ballycahill 3-09 St Rita’s Fethard 0-04

 Junior B

Gortnahoe Glengoole 0-4 Moycarkey Borris 3-21

Ballingarry 2-01 Silvermines 2-05

St Cronan’s 1-06 Carrick Swans 2-07

Junior B2

Ballybacon Grange 0-03  Eire Og Annacarty 0-07