Ballyea’s score-taking ensures victory in junior

Ballyea 5-7 Éire Óg 1-3

MISSED chances and some fine saves from Ballyea goalie, Suzie O’Shea denied Éire Óg the start they needed in this junior encounter. While play was not confined to the Éire Óg side of the pitch in the first half, Ballyea’s clinical precision in taking their scores was vital.
The two yellow cards issued to Louise Kirwan and Shauna Keane at the end of the first half seemed to spur on Éire Óg, who started the brighter in the second half. A cracking goal from Louise Kirwan got the town side off to a great start. Points from Ruth Lillis and Orla McMahon set Éire Óg on a roll but two goals from Ballyea dashed their hopes of a clawback.

Ballyea: Suzy O’Shea, Mairéad Longe, Emma Carey, Amy Pyne, Laurie Ryan, Ciara Phillips, Jane Flanagan (captain) (0-1), Catherine Dolan, Rebecca Culligan (0-1), Louise Griffin (0-2), Emma Duggan, Alison Carrig (1-1), Edel Hehir (4-1).
Subs: Catriona Chambers for Laurie Ryan, Ellen Keane for Ciara Phillips; Gráinne McCarthy for Amy Pyne, Tara Jennings for Emma Duggan and Fiona McInerney for Mairéad Longe.
Éire Óg: Katie Malone, Blathín Casey, Sally Wall, Sinéad Darcy, Ruth Lillis (0-1), Sophie Hanna, Aoife Sheehan, Alana O’Brien, Orla McMahon (0-1), Louise Kirwan (captain)(1-1), Áine Courtney, Shauna Keane, Claire McMahon.
Subs: Emma O’Brien for Sophie Hanna, Noelle Kirwan for Aoife Sheehan, Shaunagh O’Brien for Shauna Keane, Ruth McInerney for Sally Wall and Shirley Brohan for Blathín Casey.

Killanena 2-5 Truagh/Clonlara 0-1

THE first half of this game was well contested. Killanena scored a great goal from play and three points in this half. Truagh worked well but couldn’t get the scores. The second half was contested just as well from both teams. A Truagh half-time switch saw Lisa Moloney switch from goals with Sarah Carroll. Both players played well in their new positions with Moloney scoring Truagh’s only point from play and Carroll stopping a number of Killanena attempts on goal. Killanena were more clinical in their finishing and added another goal from Marie O’Donnell while Evelyn Glynn put 1-2 on the scoreboard for the winners.

Killanena: Anne McNamara, Niamh O’Connor, Amanda Flaherty, Aoife Collins, Gráinne McNamara, Lorraine Moloney, Ciara McNamara, Laura Flaherty, Edel Broderick, Eveleen Glynn, Aoife Conlon, Sinéad Flaherty, Marie O’Donnell.
Truagh/Clonlara: Lisa Moloney; Eileen Gleeson, JulieAnn Ryan, Emer O’Grady, Tracy Moloney, Orla Moloney, Aideen Hogg, Josephine Clancy, Emma Hastings, Caroline Moloney, Claire Ryan, Sarah Carroll, Laura Woods.
Subs: Rebecca O’Neill for Laura Woods (53 mins).

Opening-minute goal points Newmarket in winning direction

Newmarket 5-13 Feakle 0-6

NEWMARKET got the perfect start to their opening game in the minor championship with a goal from Niki Kaiser inside the opening minute.
Two further goals and a pointed free from Laura McMahon had Newmarket well on the way with 10 minutes gone, before Vera Loughnane pointed from a free for Feakle. Newmarket dominated all over the field in the first half, with Loughnane and Alice Akers adding points for Feakle, leaving a half-time score of Newmarket 3-6 to Feakle’s 0-5.
Feakle were more dominant in the second half but the loss of Akers through injury and poor shooting in the forward line left them with a deficit too big to claw back.

Newmarket: Caroline Feehily; Joanne Hartigan, Sinéad McInerney; Aislinn Keogh, Clodagh Lawlor, Brid Enright; Kate O’Halloran; Rachel Mulcaire; Kate O’Neill, Laura McMahon (1-7), Stephanie Coughlan (1-0); Saoirse Gleeson (0-1), Niki Kaiser (3-5).
Subs: Zelika Browne for Kate O’Neill, Laura Commane for Kate O’Halloran, Aoife Bannon for Niki Kaiser, Ciara Mulcaire for Sinéad McInerney and Crioadh Fitzgerald for Saoirse Gleeson.
Feakle: Stacey Wright; Ciara Minogue, Siobhan Tuohy; Amy McMahon, Mary-Kate Moloney, Áine Duggan, Vera Loughnane (0-5), Clodagh Gray; Clara Malone, Alice Akers (0-1), Lisa McGrath, Lauren Guilfoyle, Sonia Hanrahan.
Subs: Rebecca Purcell for Alice Akers.

Kilmaley 5-10 Wolfe Tones 2-2

KILMALEY were first to get on scoreboard and led for the game, with a very good team performance and some great passages of play. Despite missing some chances, the result was never in doubt.
Ashling Darcy scored three goals for the winners, while Niamh O’Dea and Ashling Downes were the other goalscorers.
In the same competition, Clooney-Quin were 4-12 to 2-3 winners over Inagh-Kilnamona.

U-14 championship, a lively affair

Inagh/Kilnamona 5-3 Newmarket 1-2

THERE were some lively games in the U-14 camogie championship at the weekend when there were wins for Inagh-Kilnamona, Clarecastle and Sixmilebridge.
INAGH was the venue for an U-14A game on Wednesday evening.
This was a hard-fought game in which both sides gave their all. The first half saw very little between the sides and at half-time, the home side led on a score of 1-2 to 0-2.
Inagh/Kilnamona piled on the pressure in the second half and some good interaction between the forwards led to some good scores. Newmarket also got a goal in the second half, which was an excellent long-range effort.
Best for Inagh-Kilnamona were Teresa O’Keeffe, Orlaith Cotter, Sarah Cotter, Andrea O’Keeffe and Rebecca O’Leary. Newmarket-on-Fergus had very good performances from their goalie, Ciara McCarthy, who had a lot of work to do, as well as Rachel Kelleher, Anne Marie Hayes, Fiona O’Neill and Clodagh Costelloe.
Meanwhile, Clarecastle were 3-5 to 1-5 winners over Clooney-Quin, while Sixmilebridge recorded a 4-2 to 0-0 win. 

Ballyea 1-3 Kilkishen 0-2
IN the U-14B competition, Ballyea and Kilkishen produced a lively encounter. The game’s only goal was scored by Chloe Devitt and proved decisive.

Ballyea: Laura McCarthy, Niamh Hennigan, Carol Browne, Susan Lynch, Gemma Sheehan, Caoimhe Morrissey, Chloe Eustace; Ria Flanagan, Leah Erwin (captain); Chloe Devitt, Emma O’Connell, Aisling Doyle; Amy Keane, Caoimhe Dennehy, Shauna Nugent.
Kilishen: Deirdre Cotter, Alannah Ryan, Shona Bentley, Tanya Kierse; Áine Lenihan, Rachel O’Callaghan, Derbhla McInerney, Ella Donnellan, Edel McNamara; Caoimhe Heffernan, Ashley McMahon, Aisling McNamara; Ellen O’Neill, Joanne O’Gorman, Katelyn Donnellan.
Sub: Angharad Loughnane for Áine Lenihan.

Corofin 9-6 Kilmaley 3-1

COROFIN were very much the stronger side in their U-14B game and they dominated for much of the first half to lead at the break, 4-3 to 1-0. Kilmaley missed quite a number of scorable chances in each half but to their credit, they never gave up and fought right to the final whistle.

Killanena 1-4 Burren 0-0

KILLANENA’S ability to convert scoring chances proved decisive in their U-14C tie. Burren played some good camogie but when it came to scoring, they struggled. 

Killanena: Deirdre Brady, Gráinne Conlon, Sinéad Callaghan, Sarah McMahon, Josie O’Donnell, Trish O’Donnell, Róisín McNamara (captain) (0-3), Leanne Kelsey; Sinéad Canny, Polly O’Neill (0-1), Becky Smyth; Eleanor Lawerence, Michaela Broderick.
Subs: Ciara Hayes for S McMahon and Niamh Reilly for E Lawerence.
Burren: Niamh Kelly, Lauren Crowe, Louise Stringer, Sarah McDonagh, Hannah King, Aoife Doherty, Laura McGann, Emer Nagle, Dilse Guerin, Saoirse McNamara, Katie Flanagan, Sarah O Gorman, Millie King.
Subs: Lauren Prince for Aoife Doherty.

In other games in this division, Bodyke were 5-3 to 0-0 winners over Parteen, while Truagh-Clonlara defeated Whitegate, 8-5 to 2-1.

Minors to defend Munster title on Sunday

CLARE begin the defence of their Munster minor championship on Sunday against Tipperary in Sixmilebridge at 6pm.
This Tipperary team includes the majority of the girls who contested the U-16 All-Ireland championship final two years ago, narrowly defeating Clare along the way. The Clare panel has been in training since mid-January and have played some challenges during that time.
Team coach John Carmody is expecting a tough battle on Sunday and reckons this match will be very close.
The Clare panel includes: Suzie O’Shea, Rebecca Culligan, Louise Griffin, Rachel Mulcaire, Orlaith Duggan, Saidbhe Corbett, Ciara Minogue, Vera Loughnane, Helen Hehir, Katie Cahill, Niamh Cahill, Christina Glynn, Clodagh Lawlor, Laura McMahon, Niki Kaiser, Alice Casey, Claire McDonnell, Leanne Horan, Máire McGrath, Chloe Morey, Ciara Whelan, Rachel O’Halloran, Sinéad Tuohy, Ali Quinlan, Ellen Horgan, Rachel McNamara, Susan Fahy, Leanne Boyle, Karen O’Brien, Michelle McMahon, Karen Ryan.