League title a very small consolation for Oulart
WITH ST. MARTIN’S now eagerly looking forward to a first-ever AIB Leinster Club Senior camogie final appearance, their loss earlier in the season to Oulart-The Ballagh in the county league final must seem like an irrelevant addendum.
However, the lessons learned from that defeat were taken on board as they haven’t been beaten in a championship game since.
As for Oulart-The Ballagh, the league title will be a very small consolation in a year which saw them absent from county Senior final day for the first time since 2000, an incredible record.
They proved to still be a little too strong when defeating a youthful St. Martin’s outfit in that league final in Oylegate, but they didn’t get a chance to meet them again as Rathnure pipped them in the championship semi-final.
In a re-match of the 2016 county final, the Piercestown-based club again gave it a good go but found their rivals still hungry and ready to repel any challenge they threw their way.
The underdogs started off on the front foot, registering scores from a Linda Bolger dead-ball and Chloe Foxe in the opening minutes. Only free-taker Bolger would score again from play for her side, a clear sign of the miserly tight Oulart-The Ballagh rearguard.
As soon as Una Leacy hauled in Stacey Kehoe’s pass and rattled the roof of the net in the fifth minute, Oulart-The Ballagh were on their way. Ursula Jacob quickly added three consecutive points before former inter-county teammate Leacy picked off a nice point.
The 1-4 to 0-2 lead swelled further when Shelley Kehoe and Leacy raised further white flags. However, St. Martin’s halted the barrage of Oulart-The Ballagh scores with a pair of Bolger points, both after fouls on county Minor Emma Codd, to drag the advantage back to five.
Typical of Oulart-The Ballagh, they hit right back when the wily Ursula Jacob fed Stacey Kehoe close to goal and the dangerous forward handpassed to the net.
Still, another county star in the maroon, Sarah O’Connor, found the net with a low free to give her side hope at the break (2-6 to 1-4).
St. Martin’s still needed a bright start to the second-half and, to be fair, they got it, scoring three of the first four points. However, Oulart-The Ballagh had an ace up their sleeve in the form of Wexford Under-16 starlet Anais Curran, and she had a telling impact.
With Jacob and Curran hitting the target as the half wore on, Oulart-The Ballagh always kept their opponents at arm’s length. Bolger did keep the board ticking over but the lack of scores from play meant her side never got closer than a goal as the champs held on to retain the trophy.
Oulart-The Ballagh: Sharon Kehoe; Aoife O’Connor, Karen Atkinson, Aideen Brennan; Ciara Storey, Mary Leacy, Katie Murphy; Louise Sinnott, Shauna Sinnott; Shelley Kehoe (0-1), Ursula Jacob (0-7, 5 frees, 1 ’45), Diane Ryan; Katie Gallagher, Una Leacy (1-3), Stacey Kehoe (10). Subs. - Anais Curran (0-2) for Gallagher, Laura Sinnott for Ryan, also Emma Moran, Aine Sheridan, Leanne Nolan, Niamh Dempsey, Aoife Dunne, Brídín Redmond, Katie Roche, Orla Nimmo, Lauren Sinnott, Eimear O’Connor, Rachel Sinnott, Saoirse Dunne, Niamh Sinnott.
St. Martin’s: Mags D’Arcy; Megan Carty, Marie Claire Morrissey, Lauren Carty; Katie O’Connor, Sarah O’Connor (1-0 free), Aine Ennis; Lisa Bolger, Amy Cardiff; Chloe Foxe (0-1), Linda Bolger (0-9, 6 frees, 2 ‘45s), Aisling Cronin; Lisa Firman, Emma Codd, Mary Barrett. Subs. - Lettie Whelan for Firman, Ciara O’Connor for Cronin, Ella O’Connor for Barrett, Niamh Dunne for Ennis, Aisling O’Connor for Codd, also Anna Mai Stafford, Rachael Bridges, Anna Hennessy, Gráinne Waters, Ellen Barrett, Rebecca Frayne, Elsa McDermott, Anna Mulligan.
Referee:
Harriers). Philip Murphy (Faythe