A beautiful day for Truagh-Clonlara

Truagh Clonlara  5-3   Kilkishen  4-3

The U-14A championship final at Feakle was played in beautiful conditions and produced a good standard. Kilkishen had the opening scoring opportunities but were wide of the mark on both occasions but they made up for those early misses when Áine Lynch goaled in the fifth minute. A fine save from Kilkishen goalie Orla McInerney a minute later was followed by a goal from Truagh-Clonlara’s Áine Gully that levelled the game.

Three more wides from Kilkishen, including one from a free, followed before Áine Gully added another goal for the eventual winners to put them ahead. Kilkishen’s Áine Lynch saw her 20m free dip under the crossbar to level the match after 13 minutes. Truagh-Clonlara’s Louise Egan grabbed a goal with a great strike from 20m in the 17th minute to again put them back in front. The last score of the half came from a 45’ for Kilkishen where Alannah Ryan’s shot dropped under the bar to level the match for the third time.

For the second half, Róisín Gillane was on corner forward for Truagh-Clonlara, replacing the injured Leah Hawes and this change saw Jenny Walsh moved to the full back line. Kilkishen got the score board moving with a point in the 32nd minute when Áine Lynch spilt the posts with from a free. In what was a tight, physical encounter these two sides battled hard throughout trying to gain supremacy.

Truagh-Clonlara’s Róisín Begley levelled the game for the fourth time with a point from play in the 35th minute. Truagh edged in front when Áine Gully, won a 45m free that was pointed by Laura Foley. There was some excellent play from both teams with the ball moving up and down the field and Kilkishen’s Áine Lynch made no mistake as she found the net, putting Kilkishen in front by two points at the three-quarter stage. Lynch extended that lead to three when she converted a free with 12 minutes remaining.

Truagh-Clonlara won a free just outside the 20-yard line and Laura Foley, with a fine strike, found the net, to level for the fifth time.

Rebecca Foley then added another goal for the winners two minutes later to reclaim the lead, and this was followed by an ‘insurance point’ from Róisín Begley.

Kilkishen’s Áine Lynch grabbed the last score of the game with a point from a free.

Truagh-Clonlara’s win means they have added the U-14A championship cup to the Clare Feile na nGael Cup won just a few weeks ago.

Chairperson of Clare Camogie Board Michael O’Regan presented the Truagh Clonlara captain Clara Madden with the cup leading to great celebrations amongst her team mates.

Truagh-Clonlara: Sarah Fahy; Leah Hawes, Áine O’Loughlin, Chloe Ryan; Clara Madden-Capt, Hannah Horgan, Róisín Byrnes; Laura Foley, Louise Egan; Róisín Powell, Rebecca Foley, Róisín Begley; Jenny Walsh, Chloe Miliken, Áine Gully.
Kilkishen: Orla McInerney; Ava Bentley, Donna Gleeson, Michaela McNamara; Siobhan Lenihan, Alannah Ryan-Capt, Laura Philpott; Mollie Heffernan, Angharad Loughnane; Eilis Whitney, Niamh O’Gorman, Ella Donnellan; Áine Lynch, Megan Boland, Caoimhe Kelly
Subs: Sarah Madden for Laura Philpott, Leah Donovan for Ava Bentley.
Referee: Fintan McNamara.

Shield title for Sixmilebridge

Sixmilebridge 5-8    Clooney Quin 0-2

Sixmilebridge lifted the U-14A Shield on an evening of sweltering heat in Feakle. The opening score of the game was a point from Aobha Carey and this set the tone for the ‘Bridge girls. Emma Kennedy and Saoirse Young scored goals in the 17th and 18th minutes.

An under-strength Clooney Quin, fought back but they were halted by full back Hayley Brookes, who made some great clearances which resulted in a goal from Katelyn Harrington with a further goal from Sarah O’Grady. Captain Ciara Grogan pointed for Clooney but that was cancelled with a like score from Sarah Loughnane leaving half time score at 4-2 to 0-1.

In the second half, the ‘Bridge continued to dominate with more points from Ciara O’Gorman, Emma Kennedy and Sarah Loughnane, who also grabbed her side’s fifth goal.

Ciara Grogan was the outstanding player for Clooney-Quin and others who merit mention for their determination and tenacity against a hungrier opposition are Ellen Liddy, Moya Dunne, Sinead Considine and Sinead McGee, when moved outfield in the second half.

Sixmilebridge: Ciara Maloney; Caoimhe O’Callaghan, Hayley Brookes, Sarah Quinn; Niamh Lyons, Olivia Phelan-Capt, Saoirse Young (1-0); Emma Kennedy (1-1), Sarah Loughnane (1-5); Aobha Carey (0-1), Rachel McGrath, Kiah Mellett; Hannah Wilson, Maygan Griffin, Cliondhna Ryan.
Subs: Katelyn Harrington (1-0) for Mellett, Ciara O’Gorman (0-1) for Wilson, Kate Quinlivan for Griffin, Amy Maloney for Harrington, Sarah O’Grady (1-0) for Carey.
Clooney Quin: Sinead McGee; Ciara Halpin, Ellen Liddy, Michelle Meere; Moya Dunne, Ciara Grogan (captain, 0-2), Rachel Begg; Amy Moloney, Orlaith Nash; Sinead Considine, Aoife Barry, Emma Deegan; Anna Corry, Briana Fennell, Aisling McGrath.
Subs: Mary Liddy for O’Nash, Róisín Keogh for C Halpin, Róisín Leamy for A McGrath, Ciara O’Connor for B Fennell.
Referee: Tommy Minogue.