Tipp juniors off to losing start

CAMOGIE: Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Junior Championship Group 2 Round 1

Tipperary 1-11

Cavan 2-9

Report: Thomas Conway at The Ragg

MATCH DIGEST

Player of the Match: Eimear Brady (Cavan)

SCORERS - Tipperary: Aoife McLoughney 1-7 (0-5 frees), Grace Moloney 0-2; Ciara Cummins, Claire Stakelum 0-1 each.

Cavan: Eimear Brady 1-6 (0-3 frees), Carmel Fay 1-1; Emer Fitzpatrick, Shanise Fitzsimons 0-1 each.

For obvious reasons, it is comparatively rare that a Cavan team carrying hurleys makes a trip to Tipperary. It is rarer still that a Cavan team carrying hurleys goes and beats Tipperary on their own home turf, yet that is precisely what this group of Breffni players succeeded in doing last Saturday.

But Tipp have nothing to be ashamed of. This particular Cavan side brought enough skill and tenacity to convince anyone of their worth as an accomplished bunch of camogie players. Physically they were formidable. Tactically they were astute. Their back line was robust and dogmatic, their midfielders athletic, their forwards aggressive. It is more than a month since they overcame Wexford to land the Division 3 League title. Far from rest on their laurels, Cavan clearly have eyes on the championship prize, and right now they probably rank as competition favourites.

Tipp, for their part, might also have something to say about the destination of the Kay Mills Cup. They showed more than a degree of resilience to resurrect themselves in the second-half, having fallen six points behind following an Eimear Brady goal. They fought back brilliantly but, in the end, they fell short - a last-ditch Aoife McLoughney free tailing agonisingly wide.

The standard of this game was relatively high, and yet the opening stages were unpleasantly scrappy. It was clear, from early on, that Cavan specialised in combat. They are not a dirty side, but they thrive off physicality, and on Saturday they made Tipp grimace before every tackle. On the ball however, they were also hugely enterprising.

Midfielder Emer Fitzpatrick slotted their first point in the fourth minute, and though Grace Moloney would slot a Tipperary response within seconds, Cavan seemed to be dominating.

They piled on the pressure thereafter, Carmel Fay and Eimear Brady combining to earn a free on the stand side, which the latter dispatched following a peculiar sniper-like free-taking routine. The technique drew plenty of attention, but it also drew several scores. She struck her second just minutes later, pre-empting a superb flowing move which saw midfielder Hannah Fitzsimons burst through the centre and feed the ever-dangerous Fay, who made no mistake with her finish from the wing.

The game had been congested and compressed, but from around the twentieth minute, the play began to open up, and Tipp started to find their form in front of the posts. McLoughney was the protagonist, pinging over two frees and slotting another brace from play, before landing a deceptive goal in the 27th minute. Most onlookers assumed her angled effort had sailed over the crossbar, but apparently not. A last-minute dip in trajectory had caught Cavan keeper Jenny O’Rourke unaware, sending Tipp 1-5 to 0-6 in front. For all Cavan’s physical supremacy, they remained behind at the break, trailing by the minimum, and probably wondering why.

The second-half was about as changeable an affair as could be conceived. Tipp scored first, but Cavan struck the net twice in the moments which followed, Carmel Fay sweeping home a 36th minute effort following a beautifully constructed three-part move before Eimear Brady burst the roof of the net after appearing on the end of an explosive Shanise Fitzsimons solo-run.

The latter effort cast Tipperary six points adrift, Cavan now leading 2-9 to 1-6, and yet somehow, the home side managed to turn the tide. They started to attack with merciless force, McLoughney taking care of the frees, Ciara Cummins and Grace Moloney contributing from play, substitutes Lorna Ryan and Alison O’Mahony making an irrefutable impact from the bench.

As gallant and praiseworthy a fight-back as it was, it fell frustratingly short. Cavan found something in the dying moments, a few final kilojoules of energy to keep the Tipp attack at bay. McLoughney’s free drifted wide, and Tipp’s thoughts drifted to a crucial away clash with Mayo next Saturday. Suddenly the pressure is on. A win out west is now a high priority.

TEAMS – Tipperary: Ciara Houlihan (Burgess/Duharra 7), Meadbh Ellie Ryan (Cashel King Cormacs 6), Ashling Sheedy (Portroe, Capt, 6), Niamh McCormack (Thurles Sarsfields 6), Aoife Butler (Thurles Sarsfields 7), Ciara McKeogh (Burgess/Duharra 7), Rachel Maher (Nenagh Eire Og 7), Claire Stakelum (Holycross/Ballycahill 7), Amy Crosse (Cashel King Cormacs 6), Kate Ferncombe (Clonoulty/Rossmore 7), Ciara Cummins (Thurles Sarsfields 8), Grace Moloney (Cashel King Cormacs 8), Aoife McLoughney (Shannon Rovers 8), Sinead Meagher (Kiladangan 7), Saoirse McGrath (Newport/Ballinahinch 7).

Subs: Lorna Ryan (Clonoulty/Rossmore 8) for McGrath (44); Alison O’Mahoney (Brian Borus 7) for Crosse (45); Emma Horgan (Boherlahan-Dualla 6) for Meagher (56).

Cavan: Jenny O’Rourke (7), Áine Finnegan (7), Errin Galligan (7), Nomonde Majola (7), Aideen Coyle (7), Rosie Crowe McKeever (7), Lorraine O’Rourke (7), Hannah Fitzsimons (8), Emer Fitzpatrick (7), Aoife Crowe (6), Aislinn Keenaghan (7), Clodagh Keenaghan (6), Carmel Fay (8), Shanise Fitzsimons (8), Eimear Brady (9).

Subs: Emer Fogarty (6) for Fitzpatrick (37); Eimear Cahill (6) for Coyle (57).

Referee: Brian Kearney (Louth).