Welcome first win in Minor camogie

WEXFORD KILKENNY 2-16 1-9

WEXFORD SECURED their first victory of the All-Ireland Minor camogie championship series, defeating Kilkenny with plenty to spare in Kilmacow on Saturday.

The Slaneysiders needed a decent victory to just-about stay in contention for a semi-final spot and managed to do it with easily their best team performance of the season so far.

While the whole team put in a serious shift, Ciara O’Connor led by example at centre-back, both defensively and with accurate distribution from deep. Also in defence, the tenacious Elaine Quigley was outstanding.

The midfield put in the hard yards with both Sarah Harding-Kenny and Kate Kirwan emptying the tank.

Also a bundle of energy was Under-16 Ailis Neville, who dropped back to act as an extra body in the engine room to great effect in the second-half.

In the opening half Wexford were able to build a strong advantage with Lauren Murphy impressing with a trio of points.

Lettie Whelan added a treble and Anais Curran got her quota to send the visitors in 0-10 to 0-4 ahead at the interval.

More Curran points moved Wexford 13-6 ahead in the second-half, only for Danielle Morrissey to net a penalty.

Vitally, Wexford hit back at the end of the third quarter with a Kirwan goal to lead by seven again. Katie Smyth added her name to the list of scorers and Curran netted to bring her tally to 1-8 as the second-half wound down.

The equation is a little murky for Wexford heading into the final round of games on Saturday. One thing is for sure, Neil Cullen’s side must beat an already qualified Cork by at least 19 points to have any hope of building the required score difference.

Even then, they would need Galway to beat Dublin by either two or three points for that to be enough. A bigger margin of victory would give Wexford more leeway as long as Galway win. Should that game finish in a draw or a Dublin win, Wexford are out.

Wexford: Gráinne McCabe; Aisling Halligan, Anna Hennessy, Elaine Quigley; Alannah Davis, Ciara O’Connor, Laura Doran; Sarah Harding-Kenny, Kate Kirwan (1-0); Megan Cullen, Anais Curran (1-8, 0-4 frees), Katie Smyth (0-1); Lettie Whelan (0-4, 1 free), Lauren Murphy (0-3), Ailis Neville. Subs. - Ciara Bridges for Smyth, Niamh Kehoe for Murphy.