Kerry edge Armagh in championship opener
LIBERTY INSURANCE JUNIOR ALLIRELAND CAMOGIE CHAMPIONSHIP
Kerry 0-11 Armagh 0-10
KERRY managed to get their 2017 Liberty Insurance Junior All Ireland Camogie Championship campaign off to a winning start as they got the better of Armagh on a scoreline of 0-11 to 0-10 played at the Athletic Grounds in Armagh.
In a game where a strong wind and rain was a key factor until the end, this fixture went down to the wire as a late point deep in injury time from Laura Collins was enough to seal a win for the kingdom in this Round 1 Group 2 clash.
Armagh had the aide of the breeze in the first half and made use of it as they were ahead by a five-point margin at half time 0-9 to 0-4, swirling wind and rain made conditions treacherous for both sides but four points from an impressive Rachel Merry had her side looking comfortable heading into the second half.
After the interval Kerry now had the strong breeze in their favour and another impressive performance by Patrice Diggin coming off the back of her Player of the Match Performance against Cork in the Munster Junior Final scoring 13 out of 14 points, gave Kerry a fighting chance in the second half scoring 5 points to draw Kerry Level with 59 minutes played.
Armagh managed one score in the second period of this game as Kerry had chased the game since the first half with some easy guilt edge chances just going wide. Neither side deserved the lose this game with Armagh setting the pace early on and Kerry’s tireless work rate to draw level only one could pull out on top as a draw seemed imminent.
As the clock went red the added time proved to be both long and an edge of your seat thriller, neither side were giving up as the already sapped energy levels hit into overdrive to determine who the better side was. With 62 minutes on the clock Kerry broke free laying siege to the Armagh goal as Alannah Whelan caught a great long ball and went to find a teammate and after a battle ensued for possession the sliotar was sent out to Laura Collins who sent her shot high over the crossbar the give Kerry a slender one-point lead.
Kerry managed to take a nervy lead late on and worked tirelessly to preserve it and after some great defensive play were awarded a free out and shortly after referee Paul Ryan blew the full time whistle as Kerry managed to get the win in their Round 1 opener and now will play Roscommon on July 15 in Round 2.
KERRY: A Maunsell, M Costello, N Leen, L Houlihan, O Young, S Murphy, E Ryall, O Dineen, P Diggin (0-8; 5f, 2 ‘45’), A Behan, L Collins (0-1), A M Leen, J Fitzel, J Horgan (0-1), R McCarthy. Subs: S Horgan (0-1) for A M Leen (47), A Whelan for R McCarthy (47), N Casey for J Fitzell (54).
ARMAGH: C Devlin, S Woods, G Kelly, C Casey, C Comiskey, C McCooey, C O’Hare, R Murray, L Donnelly, B Murray, R Merry (0-5, 1f), C Donnelly (0-2), C Began (0-1f), C Hill, C McSorley (0-1). Subs: A Murphy for C, Comiskey (27), E, Hayes for C, McSorley (46), L, McGoldrick for C O’Hare (57).