Eire Og make light work of depleted Kickhams

CAMOGIE: FBD Insurance Tipperary Senior Championship Group 2 Round 5

Eire Og Annacarty/Donohill 2-21

Knockavilla-Donaskeigh Kickhams 0-4

Éire Óg Annacarty/Donohill comfortably booked their passage to the knockout stages of the County Senior Camogie Championship after proving far too strong for an injury-ravaged Knockavilla-Donaskeigh Kickhams side in Annacarty on Saturday evening.

Kickhams arrived with a massive injury list and only the bare fifteen players available, including key players in the form of Caoimhe McCarthy, Ereena Fryday, and Sinead Furlong, but battled gamely in what always threatened to be a David versus Goliath encounter.

They managed to frustrate Éire Óg during a relatively tight opening ten minutes, with county star Eimear Heffernan deployed as a sweeper in an attempt to stem the waves of Annacarty attacks. That worked for a period, with Kickhams trailing 0-6 to 0-0 after twenty minutes but the pressure eventually told.

Danielle Ryan, Leah Heffernan and Eva O’Dwyer were prominent as Éire Óg began to find increasing space, and by half-time they had opened up a commanding 0-14 to 0-1 advantage.

The deployment of Eimear Heffernan in a defensive role helped Kickhams contain the damage, but inevitably robbed them of their biggest attacking threat at the other end.

Indeed, all four of Kickhams’ points came from Heffernan placed balls, with the depleted side struggling to manufacture opportunities from open play.

Any lingering doubt over the outcome was quickly removed after the restart, with Jean Kelly and Lucy Heffernan finding the net as Éire Óg continued to dominate.

Kelly and Heffernan both finished with 1-1 while Eva O’Dwyer struck seven points and Danielle Ryan added six in an impressive spread of scoring for the winners.

Kickhams can take some credit from battling to the finish despite the scale of their injury problems as they face into a relegation battle, but Éire Óg were operating at a different level and move into the knockout stages with confidence.

Player of the Match: Danielle Ryan (Eire Og Annacarty/Donohill)

Éire Óg Annacarty/Donohill: Danielle Butler (6); Laura Heffernan (6), Caoimhe Brady (6), Anne O’Dwyer (6); Shauna Heffernan (6), Ciannait Walsh (6), Rachel Heffernan (6); Mary O’Dwyer (0-1, 6), Danielle Ryan (0-6, 9); Rachel O’Dwyer (6), Eva O’Dwyer (0-7, 4f, 8), Ciara Slattery (6); Leah Heffernan (0-5, 9), Jean Kelly (1-1, 8), Lucy Heffernan (1-1, 8).

Knockavilla-Donaskeigh Kickhams: Orla Gleeson (6); Niamh Hayes (6), Emma Kingston (6), Emma Ryan (6); Sinead Hayes (6), Emma O’Meara (6), Therese Ryan (6); Anna Butler (6), Mary Ellen Holmes (6); Ellen Brown (6), Sarah Ryan (6), Eimear Heffernan (0-4f, 7); Aoife White (6), Ruby Kelly (6), Emma Daly (6).

Referee: Tommy Ryan (Kiladangan).