Kilmaley hang on for victory

Kilmaley 1-14
Scariff-Ogonnelloe 3-3

Kilmaley held on despite a second-half comeback by Scariff-Ogonnelloe to claim the points in the last match of Round 2 of the Senior Camogie Championship on Sunday evening in Clooney.

Kilmaley, playing with the wind, exerted first-half dominance and that, allied to Scariff-Ogonnelloe’s concession of scoreable frees, saw Claire McMahon put Kilmaley seven points up by the 15th minute. Danielle Sheedy opened the East Clare side’s tally in the 17th minute when she pointed from play.
Two more points for Kilmaley, a McMahon converted 45 and a well-struck point by Ashling Darcy, saw Kilmaley lead with 25 minutes played. Mairéad Scanlon pointed for Scariff-Ogonnelloe in the 26th minute. The first goal of the game followed three minutes later when a Claire Colleran shot from the wing was poorly cleared by the Kilmaley defence and Danielle Sheedy was on hand to send the ball to the Kilmaley net, leaving the half-time score 0-10 to 1-2 in favour of Kilmaley.
The second half of this dogged affair saw Scariff-Ogonnelloe in more fighting form and when Mairéad Scanlon sent a long-rage free in to the forwards in the 33rd minute, Kilmaley’s net minder Griffey blocked the shot and cleared out to the wing. Claire McMahon converted a free in the 35th minute and when called upon again in the 40th minute, her shot ended up in the net, giving Kilmaley a nine-point lead. Kilmaley added two more points from McMahon and Emma O’Driscoll.
With the game entering the last quarter, Scariff-Ogonnelloe’s switch of Marion O’Brien to the forwards proved a turning point as she started to win possession for the East Clare side. Her shot from the wing was well caught by Annemarie Fitzgerald, who found herself unmarked and made no mistake as she sent her shot to the Kilmaley net in the 45th minute. Scanlon converted a free for the combination side two minutes later, reducing the deficit to seven points.
Denise Lynch popped over a close-rage free for Kilmaley in the 49th minute, which was to be their last score of the game, as Scariff-Ogonnelloe threw all they had at Kilmaley for the remaining 10 minutes in their attempts to keep their championship hopes alive. Kilmaley’s defence, which was under pressure, was breached when Marian O’Brien burst through and while Griffey did block O’Brien’s first attempt, there was nothing she could do as a determined O’Brien got her shot through on the second attempt. Time, however, ran out for the East Clare amalgamation and Kilmaley held on for victory.
Kilmaley: Edel Griffey; Eimear Considine, Sinead O’Halloran, Lisa Kennedy; Emer O’Connor, Katie Cahill, Helen McMahon; Ashling Darcy (0-1), Aida Griffey; Shonagh Enright, Emma O’Driscoll (0-1), Siobhán Maher; Claire McMahon (1-11 1-6f, 3 45s), Denise Lynch (0-1f), Ashling O’Halloran.
Subs: Ailish Considine for Siobhan Maher (40 mins), Niamh Cahill for Lisa Kennedy (51 mins).
Scariff-Ogonnelloe: Fiona Myles; Mairéad Vaughan, Marian O’Brien 1-0, Edel O’Grady; Rachel Grogan, Sarah Skelly, Gina O’Brien; Áine O’Brien, Leanne Horan; AnneMarie Fitzgerald (1-0), Róisín O’Brien, Mairéad Scanlon (0-2, 1f); Susan Vaughan, Danielle Sheedy (1-1), Claire Colleran.
Subs: Michelle McNamara for Claire Colleran (48 mins)
Referee: John Dolan

Kilkishen 2-11
Wolfe Tones 0-7
Kilkishen recorded their second win in the championship with an emphatic 10-point victory over Wolfe Tones in wet conditions on Friday evening in Clooney. Kilkishen, playing with the aid of the wind in the opening half, dominated the play, scoring at will after Kate Lynch had the opening score in the fourth minute.
Orla Moroney’s goal in the 20th minute pushed Kilkishen on and when Shauna Fleming goaled five minutes later, Kilkishen were in the driving seat for the remainder of the opening half, going in at the break 2-6 to 0-1 in front. Wolfe Tones were on the attack from the restart and with Kilkishen conceding frees, Laura Linnane had four more points on the board for the Shannon side in the opening 10 minutes. Kilkishen added five points during the remainder of the half and while Linnane converted two more frees, Kilkishen ran out easy winners.
Kilkishen: Claire Baker; Michelle Moloney, Nollaig Baker, Marie Nash; Monica Moroney, Kate Lynch (0-2), Cushla Hehir; Sorcha Loughnane, Lisa Loughnane; Leah O’Keeffe (0-1), Caroline Sheedy (0-5 4f), Orla Moroney (1-0); Noelle McNamara (0-1), Shauna Fleming (1-0), Marie Collins (0-2).
Wolfe Tones: Sinéad Walsh; Tara Mulcahy, Avril O’Dea, Siobhán Kelly; Leanne Boyle, Danielle McMackin, Michelle Roughan; Lorraine Carr, Laura Linnane (0-7f); Claire O’Brien, Aoife Kilderry, Jodie Lyndsey; Rachel O’Brien, Liz Danagher, Ciara McCall.
Subs: Sinéad Kelly for Claire O’Brien (56 minutes).
Referee: John Dolan

Newmarket-on-Fergus 3-9
Clooney-Quin 2-7
Newmarket-on-Fergus recovered from a slow start to claim victory over Clooney-Quin on Saturday evening in Sixmilebridge. Clooney-Quin dominated the opening quarter of this tense encounter, Deirdre Murphy scoring three points without reply. Newmarket levelled matters in the 15th minute when Ruth Kaiser’s shot on goal was blocked by the Clooney-Quin defence and flicked out to the side to the waiting Deirdre Cassidy, who finished to the net.
Newmarket turned the tables on Clooney-Quin and Áine O’Brien pushed them in front when she converted a free a minute later. O’Brien’s long-range free into the square in the 22nd minute was caught by Ruth Kaiser and sent towards goal but Sheelagh Daffy in the Clooney-Quin goal saved the effort.
However, a poor clearance saw Iris Kaiser win possession and this time there was nothing Daffy could do to stop Kaiser’s diagonal shot. Newmarket added on another three points before the break and could have added a few more goals but for Daffy, who thwarted the Newmarket forwards.
Kelly MacLean opened the scoring in the second half and both sides traded points for the third quarter, with Newmarket still dominating.
The cliché about a game of two halves has to be paraphrased for this match, as it was a game of four quarters, with Clooney-Quin regaining the upper hand for the last quarter, Carol Toomey twice stopping Cloo ney-Quin’s goal attempts. Ruth Kaiser’s goal for Newmarket in the 56th minute had more effect on Clooney-Quin, who piled on the pressure and were rewarded with two goals. Aisling Corbett’s shot from an awkward angle out on the wing, which looked like going wide instead, found its way into the top corner of the net in the 66th minute, leaving Newmarket-on-Fergus winners.
Newmarket-on-Fergus: Carol Toomey; Aoife Griffin, Jane O’Leary, Laura McMahon; Aimee McInerney, Róisín McMahon, Carol Kaiser; Ruth Kaiser, Joanne Walsh; Niki Kaiser, Carol O’Leary, Áine O’Brien; Deirdre Cassidy, Iris Kaiser, Jenny Kelly.
Subs: Sharon McMahon for Iris Kaiser (blood sub); Kate O’Neil for Iris Kaiser (58 mins), Aislinn Keogh for Carol O’Leary, Clodagh Lawlor for Aimee McInerney (59 mins).
Clooney-Quin: Sheelagh Daffy; Imelda Colleran, Triona Gallagher, Aisling Hannon; Jessica O’Neill, Orlaith Duggan, Edwina O’Brien; Amy Colleran, Christine Colleran; Aisling Corbett, Claire Ryan, Kelly MacLean; Mary Clune, Deirdre Murphy, Lorraine Ryan.
Subs: Siobhán Lee for Jessica O’Neill (half-time); Marie Halpin for Lorraine Ryan (50 mins), Gemma Hassett for Kelly MacLean (58 mins).
Referee: Fintan McNamara

Sixmilebridge 8-13
Corofin 0-6
As the scoreline shows, Sixmilebridge were runaway winners in this tie, as last year’s intermediate champions again struggled to deal with their more experienced opponents.