Silvermines win first ever Junior B2 Championship

CAMOGIE: FBD Insurance County Junior B2 Championship Final

Silvermines 4-9

Cashel King Cormacs 0-13

Report: Thomas Conway at the Camogie Grounds

MATCH DIGEST

Player of the Match: Dearbhla Slattery (Silvermines)

SCORERS – Silvermines: Dearbhla Slattery 1-6 (0-4 frees), Joanne O’Brien 2-1; Rebecca Forde 1-1; Caoimhe Carey 0-1.

Cashel King Cormacs: Keeva O’Donoghue 0-7 (6 frees); Jean Walsh 0-6 (2 frees).

Steely resilience rarely wins games on its own, but in this case, it contributed hugely to Silvermines’ success, as they became the first club to win the new County Junior B2 title last Saturday.

Outrun by their opponents at times, Silvermines dug deep to arrest a strong Cashel momentum towards the end of the third-quarter, turning the tide and finishing as convincing winners.

Dogged work-ethic was the secret to their success, though most of that would have been pointless had it not been for the sharp-shooting of Dearbhla Slattery and the clinical opportunism of full-forward Joanne O’Brien.

They were helped by an idyllic start, racking up 1-1 within the space of three minutes before extending their advantage courtesy of a brilliant O’Brien goal. The full-forward had already pierced the net in the opening minutes, but she doubled her tally moments later, bursting through the Cashel half-back barrier and sending her effort whistling past the outcoming keeper, Aoibhe Gayson Molloy.

Suffering under relentless Silvermines pressure, all Cashel could manage in that first quarter were two Keeva O’Donoghue frees, while Silvermines almost broke for a third goal approaching the water-break, Dearbhla Slattery taken down just before she entered the large square. The centre-forward slotted the resulting free, leaving her side with a six-point advantage, 2-2 to 0-2.

Cashel emerged as an entirely different force, clearly energised by their manager's words. Jean Walsh began to cause problems with her searing pace, working with her fellow forwards to earn a number of frees, which O'Donoghue coolly dispatched. Before long Cashel had crept up to eight points, still trailing Silvermines by half-time but very much in the game at 2-4 to 0-8.

Having shifted Jean Walsh out to wing-forward for the second-half, it was clear that Cashel intended to run at their opponents, maximising their key strengths, athleticism, and pace, rather than pouring directly into the full-forward line. For the first few minutes, that tactic worked excellently, with Walsh racing straight in and slotting her first point of the half within thirty seconds of the restart. By the 41st minute, she had added two more, each of them almost identical to the first - spinning her marker and burning all challengers, before finding the posts with a scooping strike.

Even during that Cashel purple-patch however, Silvermines managed to retain their lead, occasional breaks up the field leading to hard-earned frees, which Slattery calmly converted. There were contributions from play as well, Rebecca Forde sweeping over a crucial effort in the 39th minute, as Silvermines gradually re-established themselves in the game.

They led by three at the water-break, 2-8 to 0-11, and while Cashel’s momentum had started to fade, the closing quarter looked destined to produce plenty of excitement. Things didn’t pan out that way however, with the Mines’ Dearbhla Slattery nailing a free from next to the side-line, before sauntering towards goal and getting on the end of a breaking ball to net her sides’ third goal.

It killed Cashel spirits, and while Walsh would manage two frees during the closing period, Forde sealed Silvermines’ success in the 58th minute, lacing the ball past Gayson Molloy and completing her team’s final tally of 4-9.

Cashel were never going to sustain the tempo they achieved during the periods before and after half-time, but their momentum was collapsed entirely by Silvermines’ voracious work-rate and shrewd game-management.

Loughmore-Castleiney have rightly earned praise for their feats in both senior hurling and football. This may be a different level and a different standard, but credit has to go to Silvermines’ own dual stars, who, along with dual manager Anthony Moroney, have managed to pick up two county titles in the space of a week. Not a bad way to end the season.

TEAMS - Silvermines: Elaine Gleeson (7), Aoibheann Slattery (6), Joanne McGrath (7), Katherine Buckley (6), Annie Ryan (7), Danielle Slattery (8), Rachel Shanahan (7), Rachel Kennedy (7), Janette Collins (7), Rebecca Forde (8), Dearbhla Slattery (8), Caoimhe Carey (7), Marie O’Connell (7), Joanne O’Brien (8), Sarah Murray (7).

Subs: Maeve Steed (7) for Buckley (52); Abby O’Dwyer (NR) for O’Brien (60+4).

Cashel King Cormacs: Evelyn Gayson Molloy (6), Anneka Maxwell (6), Ciara Moloney (6), Saoirse Davis (6), Anna Keane (7), Joanne Crosse (7), Eleanor Tobin (7), Rebecca Delahunty (8), Clodagh O’Gorman (7), Ciara Moloney (8), Aoibhinn Fanning (7), Erin Gillespie (7), Keeva O’Donoghue (8), Kelli Browne (7), Jean Walsh (8).

Sub: Grace O’Dwyer (7) for Fanning (48).

Referee: Eddie Kennedy (Borrisokane).