Clonoulty dig deep to edge Cashel

CAMOGIE: FBD Insurance County Senior Championship Semi-Final

Clonoulty/Rossmore 1-13

Cashel King Cormacs 1-12

MATCH DIGEST

Player of the Match: Casey Hennessy (Clonoulty/Rossmore)

SCORERS – Clonoulty/Rossmore: Cait Devane 0-11 (9 frees), Casey Hennessy 1-1, Eimear Bourke 0-1.

Cashel King Cormacs: Anna Fahie 0-8 (7 frees), Caoimhe Purdue 1-2, Áine O’Dwyer, Karin Blair (free) 0-1 each.

Clonoulty/Rossmore have set up another tilt at Drom & Inch in this year’s County Senior Camogie Championship final after being forced all the way to the wire by Cashel King Cormacs in the second semi-final at the Camogie grounds, The Ragg on Saturday.

The victors were second best to their West rivals for large parts of this contest, but they showed some serious mettle and experience to put their shoulder to the wheel in the final quarter of the game, with a goal from Casey Hennessy in the 45th minute proving to be the key score.

County panellists Cait Devane, Clodagh Quirke, and Casey Hennessy were in excellent form for Clonoulty, keeping the fight going at all times, even when under the pump as Cashel were the better team for large spells of the match.

Indeed, they started brightly from the throw-in with a powerful run from Tipp panellist Karin Blair manufacturing the first scoring chance of the game, which Blair struck herself from forty metres out, straight over the black spot to give her side an early lead.

Frees would be the staple scoring medium for both teams in the opening quarter, with Annie Fahie responding to that brace of Devane frees with two of her own up to the thirteenth minute as the sides drew level at 0-3 apiece.

The first points from play came from Clonoulty sticks though, with Cait Devane pointing a brilliant effort from the side-line on the run in the fourteenth minute, before Casey Hennessy repeated that feat with a surging run and finish a minute later.

It was tit-for-tat as Cashel mimicked that scoring salvo from their opponents, with Anna Fahie scoring her first from play along with Caoimhe Purdue, who was looking threatening in the full forward line. Eimear Bourke pointed her first in the seventeenth minute, which was added to by a pair of Devane frees over the next five minutes to give Clonoulty a 0-7 to 0-5 lead, but Cashel finished the half strongly indeed, scoring four unanswered points from Áine O’Dwyer, Caoimhe Purdue, and two Anna Fahie frees to give them a two-point lead at the break.

Cashel had outworked Clonoulty in the first half, and a few changes on the touchline paid dividends with Devane and Hennessy switching positions, as the space at centre forward for the latter gave Clonoulty much needed pace, and Devane had another from play after a Hennessy delivery for the first score of the half at three minutes.

It was all-square four minutes later with Devane converting a close range free, and it looked like the tide was slowly turning as Clonoulty began to dominate, but Caoimhe Purdue had other ideas in the 38th minute, running onto a Nicole Shelly whip along the ground to power through on goal and blast home, and with Anna Fahie pointing a free soon after, Cashel led 1-10 to 0-9 after 43 minutes.

But Clonoulty showed admirable mental strength they went onto dominate the final quarter with two Devane frees bringing it back to two points, before they hit the front through a Casey Hennessy goal after a powerful run.

With Anna Fahie and Devane sharing four frees equally in the final ten minutes, Clonoulty/Rossmore held firm to confirm their spot in a third county final in four years, as they chase a first O’Dwyer Cup.

TEAMS – Clonoulty/Rossmore: Therese White (6); Lorna Ryan (6), Moira Kinane (7), Aoife Bourke (6); Bernadette Ryan (6), Clodagh Quirke (8), Eimear Loughman (8); Sinead Ryan (7), Courtney Ryan (7); Kate Ferncombe (6), Kate Ryan (6), Cait Devane (8); Eimear Bourke (7), Casey Hennessy (9), Avril Quirke (6).

Subs: Sophie Maher (NR) for K Ryan; Shannon Quirke (NR) for B Ryan; Kellie Quirke (NR) for A Bourke; Kayleigh Davern (NR) for Ferncombe.

Cashel King Cormacs: Aoife O’Brien (7); Ella O’Dwyer (7), Sorcha Ryan (7), Meadbh Elle Ryan (6); Laura Connolly (6), Lily Fahie (7), Amy Crosse (7); Katelyn Downey (6), Nicole Shelly (7); Karin Blair (7), Áine O’Dwyer (7), Anna Fahie (8); Grace Moloney (8), Philly Fogarty (7), Caoimhe Purdue (8).

Subs: Una O’Dwyer (NR) for ME Ryan; Ciara Dwan (NR) for S Ryan (inj).

Referee: TP O’Sullivan (Nenagh Éire Óg).