Arklow Rocks too strong for eager Eire Óg Greystones

ARKLOW ROCKS 6-05 EIRE ÓG GREYSTONES 0-00 THE Wicklow Junior Camogie Championship got underway last Tuesday evening with Arklow Rocks and Eire Óg kicking off the campaign in beautiful Greystones.

It was Arklow who came out on top of this game with a clean win under their belt in the first round, having defeated the newly established Eire Óg team which ended in a score line of 6-5 to 0-0.

The opening couple of minutes of the game saw Arklow coming out hot and heavy with two quality goals from play scored by Danielle Curran and Eimear Lee.

The pair continued to knock scores both over and under the bar throughout the game but the Eire Óg goalkeeper Suzanne Behan was a huge asset for her side as she cleared several on target shots and lashed them back up to the opposite end.

Eire Óg got into the flow of things after the break and had numerous chances but clearances from Carmel Redmond in the Arklow backline made matters very difficult for the Greystones ladies.

The eager new team has come a long way since the start of the season, having only been established this year with the majority of players picking up a hurl for the first time in 2016.

There was a huge amount of skills uncovered from the ladies and their future in camogie is looking extremely bright.

Eire Óg’s Bronagh Daly put in a superb performance in the backline, deferring many incoming balls out of her defending line and into her forwards but Eire Óg just struggled to find the back of the net on this occasion.

Breda McCarthy and Sinead O’Donnell also came out in force scoring one goal after another from play in the second half for Arklow followed by points from Aoife O’Brien and Emma Breen.

It was Rachel Redmond who then closed the show with a brilliant goal, which saw Arklow sailing into the next round of the Championship.

Arklow Rocks will now face Bray Emmets in the second round of the championship while Eire Óg will come up against Annacurra in a battle to stay in the competition.

Eire Óg: Suzanne Behan; Helen O’Driscoll, Bronagh Daly, Nicola Kelly; Angela O’Leary, Laura Naidoo, Christina Earls; Alison Goff, Sasha Travers; Katie Lawless, Sarah Whyte, Ellie O’Neill; Jean Andrews, Sarah-Jane Brown.

Arklow Rocks: Stephanie O’Leary; Lorraine Kavanagh, Katie O’Neill, Lisa Hamilton; Carmel Redmond, Mary Geraught, Jessica McDonald; Danielle Curran (2-2) , Emma Breen (0-1); Rachel Redmond (1-0), Eimear Lee (1-1), Aoife O’Brien (0-1); Breda McCarthy (1-0), Nicola Walker, Sinead O’Donnell (1-0). Subs: Heather O’Gorman, Emma McGeary.

Referee: Con Keddy