Wexford and Offaly will face off in the final of the All-Ireland minor B camogie championship in just under two weeks after the sides came through their penultimate challenges in style writes Daragh Ó Conchúir.
Gráinne Egan was Antrim’s tormentor-in-chief, building up an impressive personal haul of 2-7 in Offaly’s 3-7 to 0-7 victory over the Ulster side in Drumlane.
Making little of the strong wind blowing across the pitch at O’Connell Park, Egan hit 1-2 in the first-half as Offaly built a 2-2 to 0-2 lead. Mairead Jennings pounced for the other goal.
As the rain began to fall in the second-half, Antrim fought back well. Nicole O’Neill led the resistance and four points in eight minutes left them within two point at 2-2 to 0-6.
With the game on the line, Egan made the decisive contribution. The centre-forward hit three points to put some daylight between the sides once more and her second goal late in the game confirmed Offaly’s All-Ireland final berth.
They will face a stiff challenge from Wexford, who turned on the style in the second half to beat Dublin 2-14 to 0-2 in Clara.
The Metropolitans were very competitive in the opening period, at the end of which they trailed by just 0-6 to 0-2. Aisling McDonald was exerting quite a bit of influence and the Wexford defence had to be at their best to keep her at bay.
McDonald and Róisín Baker produced two wonderful scores but Nicole Fortune’s accuracy from placed balls and points from Marie Morrissey and Leona Breen ensured Wexford had that four-point interval advantage.
They managed to keep Dublin scoreless after the resumption and upped the tempo of their own attacking forays at the same time to ensure that their progress to the decider would be a comfortable one.
Victoria Burke showed good opportunism to goal two minutes after the restart, following good work by Jackie Quigley and Fortune brought her tally to 1-4 when sending a ground shot to the net from close range in the 54th minute.
Dublin did have one very good opportunity to raise a flag of some nature when awarded a penalty within 60 seconds of Burke’s goal, but Mary Cronin’s shot was blocked and cleared by Orlaith Prendergast.
Meanwhile, Lydia Fitzpatrick slotted six points from placed balls as Kilkenny edged out Dublin 0-11 to 0-7 in the minor A play-off, also played at Clara.
