Athenry and Cashel through to All Ireland senior club final

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ATHENRY set up an All Ireland senior club camogie final to savour with Cashel in two weeks time following their respective semi-final victories today (Sunday). It is over 30 years since the Galway club side claimed the Bill Carroll trophy, and this is a decider the westerners will very much look forward to, when they meet a Tipperary outfit who picked up their only All Ireland title in 2007.

The Galway girls had little difficulty overcoming Loughgiel in Duggan Park, Ballinasloe (1-15 to 0-3) as captain Therese Maher grabbed 1-3. There was never any question of victory going elsewhere with Brenda Kerins, Laura Linnane and Noreen Coen adding to the tally.

It was always going to be a tough ask for a young Loughgiel team, who made the Antrim championship their main aim. They failed to emulate their conquerors in that decider, O’Donovan Rossa, who are the reigning All Ireland club titleholders.

Meanwhile, following an incredible battle in Oulart-the-Ballagh, Cashel had to come from behind before pulling off a memorable 1-14 to 2-7 win over first time semi-finalists Oulart, The Slaneysiders got off to a great start with goals from Una Leacy and Diane Ryan to give them an interval lead of 2-5 to 0-9.

But, a Cashel goal inside 10 minutes of the restart from Mairead Morrissey let them back in. They hit a purple patch after that confining the Wexford side to just two second half points. The prolific Claire Grogan, Cora Hennessy and Morrissey fired some excellent points for the Munster girls to run out victors by four points.

Elsewhere, in another thrilling encounter St Anne’s Dunhill, Waterford caused the shock of the day when they qualified for their first All Ireland junior final after ousting The Harps 3-10 to 0-16 at O’Moore Park Portlaoise. The Laois girls were seeking their fourth title in succession. First half goals from Zoe O’Donoghue and Karen Kelly yielded a 2-5 to 0-9 advantage at the break, with a second major from O’Donoghue proving decisive.

Their opponents will be Lavey from Derry who firmly put the disappointment of last year’s defeat behind them when they outclassed Four Roads of Roscommon, 3-12 to 0-2. Green flags from the in-form Mary McKane (2-4) and Paula McCloy was the main difference in this tie.

ALL-IRELAND SENIOR CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINALS:

ATHENRY, Galway, 1-15, T Maher 1-3, B Kerins 0-4, L Linnane 0-3 (0-2’45),N Coen 0-2, K O’Dwyer, K Nally,N Jordan 0-1 each.

LOUGHGIEL, Antrim 0-3, N Connolly, E Mc Mullan 0-1 each, R Mc Carry 0-1f.

CASHEL, Tipperary 1-14, M Morrissey 1-3,C Grogan 0-7, (0-1f),C Hennessey 0-3,L Grogan 0-1.

OULART- THE – BALLAGH, Wexford 2-7,U Leacy 1-2 (0-1f), D Ryan 1-0, U Jacob 0-5 (0-3f) 

ALL-IRELAND JUNIOR CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINALS:

ST.ANNE’S, Dunhill, Waterford 3-10, Z O’Donoghue 2-0, K Kelly 1-6 (0-3f),J Simpson 0-2, N Rockett, M Murphy 0-1 each

HARPS, Laois 0-16, L Mahony 0-12, (0-5f, 0-1’45,A Mahony 0-4 (0-2f)

LAVEY, Derry 3-12, M O’Kane 2-2, P Mc Cloy 1-3, A Mc Peake 0-6 (0-5f, 0-1’45), D Mc Shane 0-1

FOUR ROADS, Roscommon 0-2, C Kenny 0-2 (0-1f, 0-1’45)

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