Minor girls make very tame exit

WEXFORD ENDED a disappointing All-Ireland Minor camogie championship campaign with another pasting, this time at the hands of Clare in St. Joseph’s Doora Barefield on Saturday.

The Slaneysiders had just a solitary win under their belts heading into the final round-robin tie but still, mathematically, had a chance of progressing to the last four. However, it was pretty clear that the miracle needed was never going to materialise as the Banner ran riot.

Playing against the breeze in the opening half, the visitors struggled to make any sort of impact. They got points from Orla Molloy and Lettie Whelan but at the other end Clare were doing real damage.

Aine O’Loughlin is a player Wexford would know well, having scored a goal in an otherwise one-sided Senior championship meeting between the counties last season. She netted twice in the first-half of this one, while Olivia Phelan added another, to give Clare a 3-5 to 0-2 lead at the interval.

Despite a Lettie Whelan major after the break, the visitors’ only score of the half, Clare were still comfortable and added further goals through Phelan and Brídín Dinan to waltz away to a semi-final meeting with Dublin.

The season is not entirely over for Wexford. They must come back together for a Leinster championship semi-final against Kilkenny after the exams. That tie is scheduled for a Wexford venue on July 23.

Wexford: Emma Kiely; Larah Campbell, Emma Furlong, Katie Roche; Clodagh Jackman, Róisín Cooney, Anna Hennessy; Derbhla Doyle, Orla Molloy (0-1); Mary Barrett, Aoife Guiney, Emma Codd; Lettie Whelan (1-1), Aisling Byrne, Jessie Harding. Subs. - Orla Fortune for Furlong, Anna Mai Stafford for Campbell, Aisling Halligan for Codd, Holly Hynes for Byrne, Rebecca Doran for Kiely, also Zoe O’Leary, Andrea Creane, Lara Conran, Kaitlyn Whelan-Kinsella, Laura Kelly, Aoife Dunne.