by Kevin Egan
Ciara Golden (above) revealed the one very clear message she delivered to herself as she collected an astute delivery from the brilliant Orlaith Cahalane in the dying seconds of Saturday’s AIB All-Ireland senior club camogie final at the Donaghmore Ashbourne grounds.
“I need to score, I have to!” was how Golden recalled her thought process as she put the ball on her hurl and moved away from the tackle to give herself the room to strike from 30 metres out.
Golden did just that, hitting the match-winner for St Finbarr’s after a sensational shootout against Loughgiel Shamrocks, the Togher side prevailing by 3-15 to 3-14 at the end of 90 heart-stopping minutes at the Donaghmore Ashbourne grounds on Saturday.
“When it went over, there was no feeling like it,” she added with a beaming smile.
While that tie was an open scorefest, their opponents in the decider at Croke Park on December 14, Athenry showed an abundance of heart as they grafted to a 1-9 to 0-10 win over Dicksboro in the AIB All-Ireland senior club camogie semi-final in Kinnegad on Saturday.
Their manager, Joe Rabbitte waxed lyrical about the reservoirs of character possessed by his players, while his daughter and the team’s chief scorer, Sabina, noted the inspiration provided by her sister Olwyn, who missed out through injury.
“It was a real dogged game, scores were hard to come by,” said Rabbitte, to Galway Bay FM afterwards.
“We were down four points at the start of the game, people were saying it didn’t look well but I knew the character of the girls. Being four points down wasn’t going to change their attitude and sure enough, they won dirty ball after dirty ball. What won it for us was that we didn’t allow them to hurl, the hooks and the blocks were crucial today.”
Exultant Athenry manager, Joe Rabbitte (Photos: INPHO/John McVitty)
Jessica Gill’s opportunist goal midway through the first half undid Dicksboro’s fast start and after conceding four points in the opening six minutes, the westerners allowed their Kilkenny opponents to add a mere six for the remainder of the contest in what was a stellar defensive display.
All-Star and camogie’s player of the year nominee, Dervla Higgins was the captain and centre-back at the heart of that effort and she was delighted to put in the hard work in the opening 30 minutes in a bid to lay the foundations for their win.
“I won the toss and we opted to play against the breeze,” Higgins explained. “We would let them throw everything they have at us in the first half and we knew that if we were within two or three points at the start of the second half we would go out and have that little edge with the breeze behind us.”
A point in front at the break, Athenry struggled to shake off the Boro, who were brilliantly served by Aoife Prendergast’s freetaking in incredibly difficult conditions. However it fell to Sabina Rabbitte, daughter of Joe, to wrap up the win with two late 45s.
“Personally and collectively, it’s been tough since the county final,” said Sabina.
“Olwyn, my sister, had an injury in the county final so a lot of that was for her. The whole team wanted to do it for Olwyn, she’s always in our minds and to see her down training during the week is a big boost for us all; I put it down to her to be honest.”
Her father, himself a phenomenal ball-winner back in the day, is in no doubt about the key to winning games at this time of year.
“Hurling hasn’t changed much,” he said. “Coaches will try and change hurling but hurling is still about winning the ball and if you have players that are willing to win that ball, you can have all the stats you like to track running and what have you, it’s no use running if you don’t have the ball. That’s what we’re trying to put in them, it’s about the ball.”
Sabina Rabbitte fends off Dicksboro’s Tara Clifford
The crucial ball in Ashbourne was the one that Cahalane fired in towards Ciara at injury time at the end of extra, extra time between St Finbarr’s and Loughgiel Shamrocks.
First-half goals from Cahalane and Sorcha McCartan, not to mention a couple of excellent saves from Ciara Hurley in the Barrs’ goal, pushed the Rebel County champions into an early lead.
However Lucia McNaughton ignited the comeback with an inspirational point before half-time, Róisín McCormick shot 1-9 in total including a vital goal, and it was the wind-assisted Antrim and Ulster representatives who were a point in front with ten minutes to play.
In a game that swung over and back, St Finbarr’s retook the lead, Amy Boyle forced extra time and after the first two periods of ten minutes each way, the sides were still deadlocked. Another five minutes in each direction was played and still the game was level, until Golden scooped up Cahalane’s delivery and seized the moment in style.
“Our team, we just keep going and going, fighting for each other,” Golden said. “Even with the bench, there are so many girls that are coming on and no matter who’s on the pitch we just fight to the end because we know how much we want to win”.
Despite their rich tradition in the men’s game, with All-Ireland titles in each code featuring prominently in the club history launched just this week to mark next year’s 150th anniversary, an All-Ireland senior camogie final is new ground for the Barrs but team captain, Stephanie Punch refuted the idea that this group is going above and beyond their potential.
Barrs’ captain Stephanie Punch celebrates the most dramatic of victories (Photos: INPHO/Leah Scholes)
“A lot of people said to us that this is bonus territory but for how hard we’ve worked and how much we’ve dug in over the past couple of weeks, it’s not bonus territory for us, this is exactly what we deserve,” declared the veteran corner-back.
“Every step that we’ve taken this year is a step into the unknown and a step that we haven’t taken before. But you know sometimes it’s better that you’re not faced with past triumphs or past failures. We’re just really looking forward to it and it’s incredible for the club. We’re celebrating 150 years next year and this is another great chapter for camogie in the Barrs and I’m just really looking forward to it,” she added.
The intermediate final will get proceedings under way at HQ on Sunday week and it will be contested by teams from Cork and Laois, after Ballincollig proved too strong for Tyrone champions Eglish by 1-12 to 1-6, while Camross came out on top against Galway contestants Killimor by 2-11 to 0-12.
Experienced duo, Sarah Anne Fitzgerald and AnneMarie Starr were influential figures for their sides in the latter game but it was Fitzgerald who emerged smiling, thanks to her accuracy from placed balls, while Soaring Star Gráinne Delaney proved a constant thorn in the Killimor defence.
Camross’ Erin Walsh celebrates scoring a goal (Photo: INPHO/Leah Scholes)
An early Erin Walsh goal gave Camross a 1-6 to 0-6 interval lead and they pulled nine points clear before the westerners rallied, the accurate freetaker Niamh Horan bringing her tally to eight points but time was not on their side and it’s the Leinster champions that advance.
Ballincollig await them thanks in no small part to the brilliance of Leah Weste and though Catherine Muldoon was outstanding in the Eglish defence, the Red Hands did not carry enough of an attacking threat.
Player of the Match, Ballincollig’s Leah Weste with her children after the game (Photo: INPHO/Tom O’Hanlon)
A tight first half ended at 0-5 to 0-2, three points from Ballincollig skipper Linda Dorgan the outstanding scoring contribution. The winners’ Ailish Scanlon exchanged a brace of points with Reagan Fay early on but a goal from Leah Hannigan left too much ground to make up and though a Fay 45 went all the way to the Ballincollig net, a dramatic comeback never looked likely.
The AIB Junior A and B finals are fixed for the day before the Croker double-header. St. Dominic’s (Roscommon) beat St Peter’s (Meath) by 2-15 to 1-3 in Banagher to secure their passage to the ‘A’ decider with Áine O’Meara scoring 2-4, and they will play Brídíní Óga in that final.
The Antrim side, who won this title in 2022, overcame Patrickswell (Limerick) by 3-9 to 2-3, Torie Edgar hitting the net twice for the victorious Glenravel club.
The Junior B final will see St Kevin’s (Louth) play Éire Óg Carrickmore (Tyrone), who each had comfortable wins. Éire Óg beat London side Fr Murphy’s by 0-10 to 0-3 while St Kevin’s overwhelmed Pádraig Pearses (Roscommon) by 4-10 to 0-3.
