Minors trailed from start
KILKENNY WEXFORD
WEXFORD WERE second best to a dogged, defensively sound Kilkenny in the Leinster Minor camogie championship semi-final in St. Patrick’s Park on Sunday.
The Slaneysiders trailed for the whole game as, from the moment Danielle Morrissey put the visitors ahead with just 60 seconds on the clock to referee Gerry McGough’s full-time whistle, Kilkenny were just a little to good.
A big part of that came down to Morrissey, the best player on the field. The visitors had the luxury of taking her off when she had 1-6 on the board, eleven minutes into the second-half.
The Conahy Shamrocks clubwoman started for the Kilkenny Senior side just over 18 hours earlier, scoring 1-3 in their game against Dublin. If Morrissey was the star, her full-back line were the unsung heroes.
Wexford scored a goal from an Aoife Guiney free nine minutes from time. They also scored three points from play but none came from the inside forwards. The hosts probably had as much possession in the middle third as their opponents and matched them in that area but the scores simply didn’t come as easily.
There was an element of luck to Morrissey’s opening goal as her line ball spun wickedly past Emma Kiely to the Wexford net in the eighth minute. The dynamic Derbhla Doyle pulled a point back but more Morrissey scores and an Eadaoin Murphy point pushed Kilkenny 1-5 to 0-1 ahead.
Lettie Whelan grabbed her side’s second point right on halftime but Morrissey stole the momentum right back to leave seven between the sides at the interval (1-6 to 0-2). Any hopes of a fast Wexford start with the breeze were blown away when Caoimhe Dowling rattled the roof of the net.
Despite a couple of Whelan frees and a Molloy white flag, Wexford still trailed by 2-9 to 0-5 with twelve minutes left. Guiney battered a 20-metre free to the net but Kilkenny were never unduly troubled and held on to book their spot opposite Offaly in the final.
The Slaneysiders will now meet Dublin in the shield final, a game scheduled to take place this weekend.
Wexford: Emma Kiely; Orla Fortune, Aisling O’Leary, Larah Campbell; Aisling Halligan, Róisín Cooney (capt.), Mary Barrett; Derbhla Doyle (0-2), Clodagh Jackman; Aoife Dunne, Aoife Guiney (1-0 free), Orla Molloy (0-1); Lettie Whelan (0-4 frees), Jessie Harding, Emma Codd. Subs. - Emma Furlong for Fortune (37), Laura Kelly for Codd (60+1), also Lara O’Shea, Anna Mai Stafford, Kathlyn Whelan-Kinsella, Zoe O’Leary, Holly Hynes, Anna Hennessy, Aisling Byrne, Ciara O’Connor, Sarah Harding-Kenny, Katie Roche, Liza Bates, Rebecca Doran.
Kilkenny: Cliona Murphy; Margaret Purcell, Ciara O’Shea, Emily McCarthy; Alanna Gallagher, Aoife Doyle, Caroline Kennedy; Lisa Donnelly, Aobha O’Gorman; Blathnaid Galway (0-1), Danielle Morrissey (capt., 1-6, 0-4 frees, 1-0 line ball), Caoimhe Dowling (1-1); Denise Byrne (0-1), Eadaoin Murphy (0-2, 1 free), Aisling Morrissey. Subs. - Hannah Scott for McCarthy, inj. (31), Kiah Dwyer for Morrissey (41), Muireann Kelly for O’Gorman (45), Maria Brennan for Doyle, inj. (57).
Referee: Gerry McGough (Dublin).