Knockananna put up fine challenge
WINDGAP (KK) 2-01
KNOCKANANNA 0-01
THE smallest things can be so important when it comes to the difference between winning and losing and Knockananna found that out to their cost in the John West Feile na nGael Division 7 Camogie Cup final in Nowlan Park on Sunday afternoon last.
The Wicklow club matched their Kilkenny opponents throughout the game. In fact, they created the better goal chances but found a shot-stopper in Ali Kennedy in inspired form between the sticks.
They also defended like their lives depended on it, right across the back lines they threw body, hurl and will power at their opponents and conceded just one point from play. However, Windgap had a secret weapon up their sleeves.
That wildcard was their captain Cliodhna O’Shea. More accurately, it was the quality of her striking from frees that won the day for the Kilkenny girls. Not just once, but twice, O’Shea found the rigging in the first half.
Both dead-ball strikes, one from 25 metres out, the other from 60, flew in just inches under the crossbar. For someone so young, the purity of the strike could only be admired but a disappointed Knockananna can only shrug their shoulders and concede that sometimes luck is not on your side.
O’Shea’s first goal actually came in the opening minute and got the hosts off to a great start against their guests for the tournament. A lovely run by Zoe Katus got her into space in the third minute and she popped over to cut the deficit to two.
Katus had a crack at goal in the fifth minute but Windgap scrambled the ball to safety. Then, moments later Alanna Coogan came out of a ruck with the ball and her shot forced Ali Kennedy into a smart save.
Sontae Jackson picked off a fantastic point from the right wing, then O’Shea netted a long-range free to make it 2-1 to 0-1 in the 12th minute. She almost completed a hat-trick before the break but Tara McDonald stretched every sinew to somehow keep it out.
Katus, a talented taliswoman for Knockananna, drilled at goal just seconds after half-time but again McDonald saved, she fired the rebound wide of the goal. The baking weather really drained both sides and it became a war of attrition with few chances.
With a minute remaining Katus saw another shot saved onto the crossbar by McDonald, from the rebound Emer O’Sullivan fired wide to end the Wicklow girls hopes.
Having lost heavily to the same opposition in the group stages, Knockananna really showed what they were made of with this performance.
On another day, with a little more luck, they could have completed a remarkable turnaround.
Knockananna: Tara McDonald; Sarah Murray, Alice Mulhall (capt.), Jane Keogh; Jodi Murphy, Caoimhe Coogan, Eimear Mutton; Eimear Furlong, Roisin Byrne; Emer O’Sullivan, Zoe Katus (0-1), Aobha Harmon; Megan Whelan, Alanna Coogan, Kayla Tighe. Subs. - Ciara Byrne, Rosemarie Keating, Emer Breslin, Siobhan Mulhall, Amy Roche.
Windgap: Ali Kennedy; Emer Barron, Nathania Jackson, Sarah Cullen; Orlaith O’Shea, Cliodhna O’Shea (2-0 frees, capt.), Sara Gleeson; Eimear Smith, Aoibheann Holden; Rachel Doherty, Sontae Jackson (0-1), Denise Foley; Victoria O’Brien, Megan Kenneally, Ava Lilly O’Neill. Subs. - Ria McCormack, Sarah Culleton, Chloe Gunn, Sarah McCoy, Eleanor Hayes, Alannah Holden, Ava O’Brien, Niamh Enright, Rosa White.
Referee: James Whelan (Kilkenny)