Naomh Jude All-Ireland Under 13 Camogie Sevens 2011
Tipperary’s Cahir wins Naomh Jude All-Ireland Under 13 Camogie Sevens in Tymon Park
At the end of a spectacular day’s Camogie Tipperary’s Cahir defeated Dublin’s Lucan Sarsfields in the final of the Naomh Jude All-Ireland Under 13 Sevens played at Tymon Park, Templeogue, Dublin on Saturday, 10 September.
This Championship, which is officially approved by An Cumann Cam¾gaÝochta, gives a first opportunity for young players to win an All-Ireland Championship in pre-FÚile year. An Cumann Cam¾gaÝochta Chief Executive, SinÚad O’Connor, visited and made time to meet the teams taking part.
The under 12 champions 2010 from 12 counties were invited to compete in this competition. There were 4 groups of 3 teams with the winners and runners-up going forward to the quarter-finals of the Cup and the third-placed teams progressing to the semi-finals of the Shield.
The action got under way with a colourful parade of teams to the pitches where Uileann Piper and club member Ciarßn Ë Briain played Amhrßn na bhFiann.
Cahir, the holders, and Lucan Sarsfields emerged from Group A to the Cup quarter-finals with Thomastown (Kilkenny) moving to the semi-finals of the Shield.
From Group B Rathnure (Wexford) and Crecora (Limerick) progressed to the Cup, while Clarecastle from Clare advanced to the Shield.
Ballinhassig (Cork) and Ballycastle (Antrim), took top places in Group C and the host club Naomh Jude went on to the Shield.
From Group D holders St Cillian’s (Offaly) and Oranmore Maree (Galway) made it to the Cup quarter-finals while Derry’s Swatragh went forward to the Shield.
Following lunch it was knock out all the way. In the Shield Thomastown beat Clarecastle to reach the final and Swatragh defeated Naomh Jude in the other semi-final. Thomastown went on to win the Shield final.
In the Cup, Cahir who had recently won the All-Ireland Community Games Camogie title beat Crecora to set up a semi-final with Ballinhassig who defeated Oranmore Maree in the quarters. Lucan Sarsfields beat Rathnure to meet St Cillians in the semis, who had overcome Ballycastle in the quarters. Cahir, National FÚile Division One winners in May, continued on their winning ways by beating Ballinhassig in the first semi-final while Lucan Sarsfields also qualified for the final when overcoming St Cillians.
In the afternoon the weather was beautifully sunny, and in the final the skilful Cahir girls were just brilliant against Lucan Sarsfields. They continued their good form and repeated their group game win over the Dublin side and eventually ran out worthy winners 4-5 to 1-3. Cahir’s Aisling Moloney gave superb performances throughout the competition and it came as no surprise to the crowds who attended the games when she was chosen as Laoch an Lae. Aisling had also won Laoch an Lae in the 2010 competition as an under 12! .
The prize for the winners included an invitation to play in Croke Park on Sunday at half-time in the All-Ireland Intermediate Camogie Final between Antrim and Wexford and the Cahir team were presented with beautiful special gear for the occasion by the Camogie Association.
Naomh Jude ran a very successful Academy Open Day in conjunction with this Sevens competition, which attracted a huge crowd of budding stars. The organising committee, under the chairmanship of John Coman, would like to thank all those who helped in so many ways with the running of competition.
The Competition was again kindly sponsored by Johnston, Mooney and O’Brien. John Rooney, Managing Director of Johnson, Mooney and O’Brien (www.jmob.ie) presented the Cup to Cahir joint captains Aoife Corcoran and Aisling Moloney and expressed his delight at being associated with Naomh Jude in the promotion of this Under 13 All-Ireland competition.
Solo Sport, whose Director Gavin Russell is a club member, kindly sponsored the sliothars (www.solosports.ie ) which were complimented by many players. The Louis Fitzgerald Hotel (www.louisfitzgeraldhotel.com ) accomodated many of the teams with attractive rates from their Head of Marketing, Jason Sherlock.
A new feature this year was the very attractive action shots of the matches which were made available on the day in the club house by club member Fergus McNally (www.fmcphotos.wordpress.com ).
Further information can be found on www.stjudesgaa.ie or from John Coman on 0879087105. This coming weekend the Club again hosts the All-Ireland Junior Football Sevens.
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