Steady Ballyellis see off Kilmore for camogie win
BALLYELLIS 2-3 KILMORE 0-0
A SLOW and steady flow of scores coupled with a very tight defence saw Ballyellis N.S. take the Allianz Cumann na mBunscol Rackard League mini-sevens camogie title.
From the off, the north Wexford girls lit up St. Patrick’s Park with their work ethic and team play all over the field. Within seconds of the throw-in, Amy Roche scored a goal from close range to get the party started.
Kilmore battled hard to gain a foothold but found themselves camped in their own half for the opening ten minutes. The Ballyellis midfield dynamic duo of Sadhbh Buttle and Karen Tomkins got a point each before half-time to create a five-point lead.
Meanwhile, Kilmore were unlucky not to have a first-half goal when Amy Roche was denied by Ballyellis netminder Kate Butler.
The second-half was very similar to the first. Kilmore continued to harry and harass the Ballyellis girls in an attempt to get into the game, and the midfield battle between Sadhbh Buttle and Kennedy Cullen was a particularly keen contest.
Lady luck had simply abandoned Kilmore however as they saw another goal chance missed when Jessie Carroll’s shot hit the side-netting.
With a couple of big scores needed for safety, Sadhbh Buttle stepped up to the mark. Midway through the half she saw a powerful shot take a deflection and find the bottom corner of the Kilmore net. She quickly followed this up with a point off a breaking ball to put her team well on the way to winning.
For Kilmore, there was just no way past Aoife Kinsella and Erin O’Callaghan who stood tall in the Ballyellis defence. Kilmore goalkeeper Ciara Casey had a great game overall to keep her team in contention, but nothing was going to stop this Ballyellis team which was in top form.
Ballyellis: Kate Butler, Aoife Kinsella, Erin O’Callaghan, Karen Tomkins, Sadhbh Buttle, Aoife O’Callaghan, Hannah Mulroe, Kim Dixon, Amber Walsh, Laura Kehoe, Anna Tomkins.
Kilmore: Ciara Casey, Clodagh Wall, Tiegan Kehoe, Kiera Dempsey, Kennedy Cullen, Amy Roche, Jemma Cousins, Jessie Carroll, Eabha Crosbie.