Silvermines spoil Toome's return to senior level
CAMOGIE: Tipperary Senior Championship Group 2
Toomevara 2-5
Silvermines 0-19
Report: Enda Treacy in Toomevara
A dominant second half performance from Silvermines put an understrength Toomevara to the sword on their own patch in the opening round of the County Senior Camogie Championship last Friday.
The ‘Mines outlasted a Toome team who gave it their all, but were lacking the cutting edge to do damage on the scoreboard, as Silvermines proved to carry far more of a scoring threat throughout, with Aisling Carey and the Cunneen twins, Niamh & Ellen, leading the way.
Toomevara will be disappointed with how they faded out of the game, registering just two points in the second half, but with the squad wafer thin with absentees, the loss of Shauna Quirke at the start of the half was a hammer blow and the attacking threat was blunted considerably as a result.
On the other side of the coin, Silvermines will be delighted with the win and played really well for large spells, with the Cunneen’s proving to be a big attacking outlet for them, and they looked for the short, low pass into the corners at all times. Strong performances from Nicola Butler, Brid Quinn and the impressive Eimear Murphy were also a feature and they will take a lot from this win.
Ellen Cunneen got the ‘Mines off to an excellent start with two points in the opening four minutes, skinning her marker on both occasions to score and an Aisling Carey free a minute later gave them an early lead.
Jill Anne Quirke did well a few minutes later to set up a Mary Flaherty score to get the ball rolling for Toome’ and a few minutes later, Shauna Quirke cut through the Silvermines defense to slot low past Janette Collins to give the home team a one-point lead after 14 minutes.
The lead was soon two with Jill Anne Quirke slotting over from close range after good work by Mary Grace, but Silvermines weren’t long eating up that lead and going back ahead with Carey (free), Brid Quinn and Niamh Cunneen (2) all registering scores up to the 26th minute to take a three point lead.
Against the run of play a minute later, Toome’ levelled again when Elaine Young’s high ball wasn’t dealt with by the ‘Mines defense as Mary Flaherty reacted quickest to whip home from close range
Two frees from Carey and a late Mary Grace point for Toome’ meant that Silvermines took a single point lead, 0-10 to 2-3, into the break with a big second half to come for both teams.
But only one team seemed to show up after the break as the ‘Mines quickly got to work to improve their position and points from Niamh Cunneen and Emer Tuohy set them off in the right tone.
Nicola Butler and Brid Quinn were beginning to assert huge dominance around the middle third and Toome’ struggled to get a grip on the game, especially after Shauna Quirke retiring through injury, as Quinn and Elaine Murphy extended the Silvermines lead further.
Toomevara continued to put in a big shift but they were simply lacking a finishing edge in front of goal, whereas the ‘Mines had no such issues, with Aisling Carey slotting four points in the final ten minutes, as Toome’ could only muster points from a Jill Anne Quirke free and a Laoise Cummins in response.
Carey and Elaine Murphy put the finishing touches on the win for their team with the last two scores of the game as Silvermines got their campaign off to the perfect start.
MATCH DIGEST
Player of the Match: Eimear Murphy (Silvermines)
Toomevara: Paula Ryan; Lauren Ryan, Joanne O’Farrell, Orla Hogan; Mickayla Doran, Margaret Quigley, Niamh McCormack; Shauna Quirke (1-0), Mary Grace (0-1); Caoimhe Cantwell, Elaine Young, Mary Flaherty (1-1); Laoise Cummins (0-1), Jill Anne Quirke (0-2, 1f), Gemma McCarthy.
Subs: Laura O’Meara for S Quirke (44 inj); Jennifer Ryan for McCormack (51); Ciara Kenneally for Cantwell (53)
Silvermines: Janette Collins; Aine Tuohy, Nessa Murray, Miriam Murphy; Ciara Dwan, Ciara Ryan, Katie Murphy; Nicola Butler, Eimear Murphy; Emer Tuohy (0-1), Brid Quinn (0-2), Elaine Murphy (0-2); Niamh Cunneen (0-2), Aisling Carey (0-8, 7f), Ellen Cunneen (0-4).
Sub: Rebecca Forde for Murray (40)
Referee: TP O’Sullivan (Nenagh Eire Og).