by Kevin Egan
An historic first ever All-Ireland club final appearance by a Scottish team might have been the headline news in the lead-in to this unique AIB All-Ireland Junior B Camogie Club Final, but on the day, it was the spirit of the tightly knit Naomh Treasa community that prevailed in Saturday’s fixture at the National Games Development Centre in Abbotstown, on a 2-3 to 0-4 scoreline.
“Forget about us players, those supporters have come out in hail, rain and snow to back us at times when we didn’t back ourselves, this is for them,” said midfielder and player of the match Róisín McErlean, whose goal at the start of the second half proved to be the crucial score in this low-scoring battle.
“You’ve seen the support today, there’s no stone unturned. The sponsorship we’ve had over the week, the messages of good luck and all.
“There’s the two lads up there, Damien and Fiachra,” she said, referring to Damien Casey and Fiachra Ó Faoláin, whose deaths in 2022 and 2024 were a huge blow to the Dungannon area, and in particular to the local Gaelic games community.
“They’ve sisters playing today, and for those families in particular, to see the joy that this win brings to them and to the people of Dungannon is incredible”.
No surprise then that this was a game where heart and resolve were invaluable qualities throughout.
Scores were particularly hard to come by in the first half, with both teams going in level with just one point each scored. Nicole Nugent and McErlean traded scores from dead ball opportunities, and perhaps the biggest play of the period was a magnificent diving save from Sarah O’Sullivan which denied Clare Kelly a certain goal for Naomh Treasa.
Despite the low-scoring fare, the speed and competitiveness of the tie, and the end-to-end nature of the camogie, left supporters in no doubt as to the high stakes involved. No doubt Dean McParland would have asked for a fast restart from his Naomh Treasa charges at half-time, and they delivered in style, finding the net after just 28 seconds.
“Dean said to me on the way out that we need a goal, that’s all that was in my head,” said McErlean.
Gráinne Rafferty opened the door for the roving midfielder by picking out her run with a well-placed delivery down the left wing, but the Tyrone county star still had a world of work to do. Her pace opened up the opportunity however, and a well-placed finish inside the Ceann Créige near post from 15 metres out transformed the game.
All around the pitch, there were positive transformations to be seen from the Naomh Treasa players. Laura Barker was starting to pick up a lot of loose ball around the middle third, forcing the Glasgow outfit to sit very deep in their own half, while Katie McMahon was probably the player of the half in the first half but the Northerners found a way to curtail her influence after half-time.
McErlean added another point from play while pressure mounted, and while Sarah O’Sullivan made another incredible save to prevent her from scoring what would have been a match-winning goal, that crucial green flag wasn’t too far away.
Again it came from a long delivery from Rafferty which broke over the goal-line, which was enough to ensure that a late push from Ceann Créige, including nice points from Anna McKee and Nicole Nugent, were never going to change the result.
“We’re a second half team, and we love a dogfight,” said McErlean. “When we went in at half-time, I knew that we hadn’t performed to the level that we’re capable, I knew we’d bring it in the second half. Now that we’ve gotten there, there’s no words to describe it, I’m absolutely over the moon”.
SCORERS FOR NAOMH TREASA: R McErlean 1-2 (0-1f); G Rafferty 1-0;C Kelly 0-1
SCORERS FOR CEANN CRÉIGE: N Nugent 0-2 (1f); S O’ Sullivan (f), A McKee 0-1 each
NAOMH TREASA: E Colton, C McNulty, B Barker, C Ferran, M Barker, C Casey, Á McNulty, C McGrath, R McErlean, G Rafferty, L Barker, B Jones, C McErlean, C Kelly, C Little. Subs: B Santos for C McErlean (42) D Ó Faoláin for C Little (47), N Moore for C Kelly (58)
CEANN CRÉIGE: S Sullivan, H McGough, O Donnelly, C Doyle, K Dullea, E Gavan, A McCarthy, Nugent, K McMahon, B Donaghy, N Rice, M Reynolds, A McKee, O McArdle, A Clarke. Subs: S McDonnell for O McArdle (39), A Keyes for K Dullea (59)
REFEREE: Ciarán Goff (Wicklow)
#TheToughest
