Minor ‘A’ Shield and ‘B’ Cup successes for Tipp Camogie

‘A’ Shield Final

Tipperary 6-18 Clare 1-6

Tipperary bounced back impressively from their Munster semi-final defeat to Limerick with an emphatic victory over Clare in the Minor ‘A’ Shield final on Sunday at Fethard Town Park.

It proved to be a timely confidence boost ahead of next Sunday’s visit of Munster champions Cork to the County Camogie Grounds in the Ragg for the opening round of the All-Ireland Ireland Championship.

Tipperary were the dominant side throughout, with a number of positional switches by the management team paying immediate dividends. Chief among them was Emma Bonner’s move to midfield, where she produced a standout performance. Bonner brought immense energy to the centre of the field, was constantly involved, and finished with an outstanding tally of 2-4, a clear player-of-the-match display.

Bonner opened the scoring inside the first minute before Alice Buster and Abbie Horgan from a 45, extended the early lead. Clare replied through a Sarah McEvoy point from play, with McEvoy proving their standout performer over the hour, accurate both from frees and play.

However, Tipperary possessed far greater scoring depth with Emma Bonner and Isabelle Kingston all contributing. In the 19th minute, an Abbie Horgan free from distance found the back of the net to underline Tipperary’s dominance. Just a minute later, Kingston — who was a constant thorn in the Clare defence — added a second goal.

Points were exchanged by McEvoy and Horgan before the interval, leaving Tipperary firmly in control at the break, leading 2-10 to 0-6.

Tipperary made a number of changes at half-time and it was substitute Grace Stapleton who made the immediate impact, finishing to the net early in the second half.

Emma Bonner followed with a point before Abbie Horgan added a free, and Stapleton struck again shortly afterwards to register her second goal.

Clare’s only score of the second half arrived in the 41st minute when McEvoy found the back of the net, but Tipperary quickly reasserted their authority.

Bonner added further goals as she continued to dominate proceedings, while substitute Grace Cleary took over the free-taking duties and was accurate from a number of second-half dead balls.

Tipperary continued to pile on the scores to the final whistle and ran out convincing winners.

It was a thoroughly dominant display from the Premier County, with Bonner the standout performer, Ciara Cahill was very solid at centre-back, and the entire Tipperary forward line posed a constant threat.

Player of the Match: Emma Bonner (Tipperary)

Tipperary: Erin O’Donnell (Moyle Rovers); Eimear Ryan (Gortnahoe/Glengoole), Kate Nevin (Templemore), Ella Frend (Toomevara); Jessie Shanahan (Slieve Felim Rapparees); Ciara Cahill (Drom & Inch, Capt), Evanne Gleeson (Boherlahan-Dualla); Emma Bonner (Cashel King Cormacs 2-4), Eva Ralph (Moycarkey/Borris); Alice Butler (Slieve Felim Rapparees 0-2), Ailbhe Treacy (Silvermines), Kaelinn Rossiter (Thurles Sarsfields); Abbie Horgan (Boherlahan-Dualla 1-6f) Isabelle Kingston (Kiladangan 1-1), Sara Jayne Ormond (Drom & Inch)

Subs: Grace Stapleton (Borris-Ileigh 2-0) for Ormond (HT); Kate Fox (St Patrick’s) for Shanahan (HT); Doireann Ryan (Boherlahan-Dualla 0-1) for Butler; Leah Maher (Boherlahan-Dualla) for E Ryan (45); Eavann Duffy (Moyle Rovers) for Ralph (45); Neasa Dwan (Boherlahan-Dualla) for Gleeson; Grace Cleary (Nenagh Eire Og 0-4f) for Horgan; Ava Fanning (Borris-Ileigh) for Treacy (48)

Clare: Aine Boland, Alice McGuane, Sophie Ryan, Kayla Connellan, Emily Carmody, Kate Kennedy, Orla Cahill, Lucy Pearl, Sarah McEvoy (1-6), Shannon Beston, Aoibhe O’Leary, Aine Quaid, Avril Crowe, Katie Conlon, Sheena Beirne. Tipperary are back in action next Sunday at the Camogie Grounds in the Ragg at 1.00pm to face Munster champions Cork in the first round of the All-Ireland Minor ‘A’ Championship.

‘B’ CUP Final

Tipperary 1-7 Kerry 1-2

Fethard Town Park was the venue for the Munster Minor ‘B’ final on Sunday evening.

It was Kerry who made the brighter start with Sinead Flynn opened the scoring after three minutes as Tipperary struggled to find fluency in their play. It took the Premier County 22 minutes to register their opening score, a point from Ruby Kelly. This appeared to spark Tipperary into life, and from there they began to look the stronger of the two sides.

Tipperary took the lead on 25 minutes when Aoibhin Maher struck a lovely point from play. That score saw Tipp up their work-rate, particularly in the forward line. In injury time, following some excellent work from Ruby Kelly, Aoibhin Maher drove in a ball that was not dealt with by the Kerry defence and ended up in the back of the net, giving Tipp a 1-2 to 0-1 lead at half-time.

Both sides were guilty of some poor wides in the second half, and it took thirteen minutes before the opening score arrived, a brilliantly struck point from the sideline by Aoibhin Maher. Three minutes later, Kate Maunsell pointed a free for Kerry to reduce Tipperary’s lead to four.

Kerry needed a lifeline, and they got it in the 48th minute when Kate Maunsell’s shot found the Tipp net, keeping the contest very much alive.

Tipperary’s response was immediate and excellent, with Emma Kiely pointing straight from the puck-out. Kellie O’Dwyer was excellent at centre-back, acting as the launchpad for Tipperary’s attacks.

Orla Carey capped off a period of Tipp dominance with a well-taken point. A pointed free from Aoibhin Maher was followed by a late injury-time point from Rachael Heffernan, who had worked tirelessly throughout the hour.

Both teams battled to the end with both defences making life hard for the forwards. Accuracy let down both sides which also meant scores were at a premium.

Tipperary, however, created more attacking opportunities and were the more efficient side overall. Their defence was particularly strong, with Kellie O’Dwyer standing out as player of the match and Malwina Dziewiatka leading a solid full backline. In the middle of the field Sarah O’Dwyer and Emma Costello worked hard.

Tipperary had prepared well since before Christmas for this competition with lots of challenge games leading up to Sunday’s final. After the game joint captains Aoibhin Maher and Kellie O’Dwyer were delighted to receive the winning cup on behalf of the team.

Tipperary: Margaret Cleary (Shannon Rovers); Rhiannon Jones (Nenagh Eire Og), Malwina Dziewiatka (Burgess/Duharra), Orla Gleeson (Knockavilla-D Kickhams); Ciara Crofton (Roscrea), Kellie O’Dwyer (Silvermines J-Capt), Kara O’Carroll (Burgess/Duharra), Sarah O’Dwyer (Clonoulty/Rossmore), Emma Costello (Shannon Rovers), Aoibhin Maher (Ballybacon/Grange, J Capt 1-2, 0-1f), Rachel Heffernan (Eire Og Annacarty/D 0-1), Emma Kiely (Moyle Rovers 0-1), Ruby Kelly (Knockavilla-D Kickhams 0-1), Laurie Mullen (Drom & Inch), Niamh Manton (Cashel King Cormacs).

Subs: Abi Kelly (Borris-Ileigh), Faye Lavin (St Rita’s Fethard), Orla Carey (Roscrea 0-1).

Kerry: Máire O’Connor; Katelyn Mahoney, Hayley O’Connor, Ava Kennelly; Anna Chute, Jamie Lee O’Connor, Jessica Leen; Rachael Lennon, Ally Russell; Georgia Kennedy, Sinead Flynn (0-1), Nicole Power; Emma Gaynor, Holly Boyle, Kate Maunsell (1-1, 0-1f).