Kaiser’s late bolt from the blue

Newmarket  1-12  Kilmaley  2-8

Newmarket and Kilmaley have dominated senior camogie in the county in recent years and have produced a number of exciting and close contests in that time.
In the final of the 2012 senior league at Clarecastle on Saturday evening, they produced another classic contest before Newmarket managed to dethrone their rivals, recording a one-point win.
A Newmarket victory didn’t look likely when they trailed by eight points at half-time. While they had played against the fresh breeze, Kilmaley had looked the sharper side in the opening half.
However, it was a different story after the interval, as Newmarket stepped up a gear and fought their way back before snatching victory with a Nikki Kaiser point in the third minute of injury time.
The winners had started well and took an early lead with points from Erica Minogue and Sharon McMahon.
A huge delivery from a Denise Lynch free saw Clare McMahon win possession and find the net to give Kilmaley the lead in the eighth minute. The score clearly boosted the titleholders, who quickly added 1-2 to lead by two goals at the end of the first quarter. Their second goal came from Ailish Considine, whose shot deceived Deirdre Cassidy in the Newmarket goal.
With 10 minutes remaining in the half, it was 2-5 to 0-3 in Kilmaley’s favour and they held this eight-point advantage to the break when the score was 2-7 to 0-5. Shortly before half-time Newmarket were dealt a blow when they lost full-forward Erica Minogue to injury.
Newmarket returned in determined mood, which was evident from their first attack that earned them a penalty when Laura McMahon was fouled. Her effort from the resultant free produced a point, which was quickly cancelled out by a like score from Aishling O’Halloran for Kilmaley. Surprisingly, this proved to be their final score.
Four excellent points from long-range frees by Róisín McMahon had Kilmaley’s lead down to four by the mid-point of this half and this was still the position 10 minutes later. Then Laura McMahon got the vital touch for her team’s only goal and the margin was down to the minimum with five minutes remaining.
Claire Arthur hit the levelling score a minute later and with everything pointing to a replay, Nikki Kaiser hit the winning point three minutes into injury time, much to the delight of her team’s mentors and supporters.
Róisín McMahon, Clodagh Lawlor, Jane O’Leary and the Kaiser sisters did well for the winners, while Kilmaley’s best were Denise Lynch, Katie Cahill, Eimear Considine, Emma O’Driscoll and Shonagh Enright.

Newmarket: Deirdre Cassidy; Carol O’Leary, Jane O’Leary, Clodagh Lawlor; Aimee McInerney, Róisín McMahon, Carol Kaiser; Ruth Kaiser, Joanne Walsh; Áine O’Brien, Nikki Kaiser, Jenny Kelly; Laura McMahon, Erica Minogue, Sharon McMahon.
Sub: Claire Arthur for Minogue (inj).
Scorers: Róisín McMahon (0-4); Laura McMahon (1-1); Nikki Kaiser (0-3); Jenny Kelly, Sharon McMahon, Erica Minogue, Claire Arthur (0-1) each.
Kilmaley: Edel Griffey; Sinéad O’Halloran, Denise Lynch, Lisa Kennedy; Niamh Cahill, Katie Cahill, Eimear Considine; Siobhán White, Aida Griffey; Shonagh Enright, Emma O’Driscoll, Claire McMahon; Sinéad O’Keeffe, Aishling O’Halloran, Ailish Considine.
Sub: Ashling Darcy for White.
Scorers: Clare McMahon (1-4); Ailish Considine (1-0); Denise Lynch, Shonagh Enright, Emma O’Driscoll, Ashling O’Halloran (0-1) each.
Referee: John Dolan,
Clarecastle