Curran brace helps Oulart-The Ballagh to very easy victory
OULART-BALLAGH ST. IBAR’S 3-10 0-5
ANAIS CURRAN netted twice as Oulart-The Ballagh cruised past a flailing St. Ibar’s/Shelmalier and into the Premier Senior camogie final in Bellefield on Sunday.
The teenage Wexford forward bagged both majors in the first-half as her club motored into a comfortable interval lead (2-5 to 0-1).
The two-time All-Ireland champions were then able to manage their way through the second-half without undue concern.
In fact, the biggest worry for Oulart-The Ballagh on the day was a finger injury sustained by Ursula Jacob after she was struck releasing the ball in the first-half. However, the former All Star soldiered on, almost one-handed, and was able to wrap up victory with her side’s final goal.
Without Kate Kelly, St. Ibar’s/ Shelmalier have struggled to match-up with the top teams in the championship this season, and this was no different.
The scores conceded tally doesn’t look too bad but in reality Oulart-The Ballagh wasted a lot of chances and fired as many wides as scores.
In the attacking third of the field only Lauren Murphy registered for the losers. Oulart-The Ballagh are as good as anyone defending one-on-one, with Ciara Storey unmoved as the anchor, and Karen Atkinson - who retired from inter-county duty before this season - still as miserly as ever.
Murphy actually opened the scoring with a classy opening minute point but that also would be their final score from play.
Curran bludgeoned a shot past Róisín Tobin in the fourth minute before the game became fragmented on the back of a string of injury stoppages.
It was 1-3 to 0-1 after 19 minutes and Oulart-The Ballagh didn’t add to their advantage until Aideen Brennan handpassed Curran into the clear five minutes into added time and she drilled home. Stacey Kehoe and Siobhán Sinnott tacked on late points as the victors went in ten ahead.
Things were tight early in the second-half, but there was still double digits in it when Jessie Harding was fouled for a penalty in the 44th minute. Murphy struck it pretty well but chose to pick Ciara Storey’s side of the goal, and that probably wasn’t the best plan as she deflected it over the bar.
St. Ibar’s/Shelmalier rarely threatened after that. Jacob caught Mary Leacy’s pass with her now-deformed paw and fired home to make it 3-7 to 0-4.
Points followed from Kehoe, Curran and Laura Sinnott as Oulart-The Ballagh booked a final spot opposite St. Martin’s.
Oulart-The Ballagh: Lauren Sinnott; Aoife O’Connor, Ciara Storey, Karen Atkinson; Aoife Dunne, Louise Sinnott, Katie Murphy; Shelley Kehoe, Shauna Sinnott (0-1); Anais Curran (2-2), Mary Leacy, Siobhán Sinnott (0-1); Stacey Kehoe (0-3), Ursula Jacob (capt., 1-2, 0-2 frees), Aideen Brennan. Subs. - Brídín Redmond for Siobhán Sinnott (51), Laura Sinnott (0-1) for Jacob (52), Katie Gallagher for O’Connor (57), Eimear O’Connor for Leacy (57), Emma Moran for Brennan (59).
St. Ibar’s/Shelmalier: Róisín Tobin; Mikaela Lanigan, Michelle Harding, Sadbh McCarthy; Ciara Donohoe, Niamh Walsh, Larah Campbell; Áine Lacey, Mag Kelly; Ailis Neville, Anne Marie Kelly (capt.), Jessie Harding; Lauren Murphy (0-5, 3 frees, 1 pen.), Deirdre McMahon, Shauna Kelly. Subs. - Eleanor Lacey for M. Kelly, inj. (9), Eadaoin Fitzgerald for Lanigan (31), Andrea Fielding for McCarthy (54), Maeve Quill for A.M. Kelly (54).
Referee: Pat Kehoe (Rathgarogue-Cushinstown).