Fast starting Drom sweep aside Moycarkey

CAMOGIE: FBD Insurance Tipperary Senior Championship Quarter Final

Drom & Inch 2-14

Moycarkey/Borris 0-10

Report: Noel Dundon at the Camogie Grounds, The Ragg

MATCH DIGEST

Player of the Match: Niamh Treacy (Drom & Inch)

SCORERS – Drom & Inch: Eimear McGrath 0-9 (7 frees); Niamh Treacy, Ciara Cahill 1-1 each; Miriam Campion 0-2; Mary Bourke 0-1.

Moycarkey/Borris: Emma O’Sullivan 0-3 (1 free); Ciara Shelly, Sarah Corcoran (1 free), Eva Ralph 0-2 each; Lucy Callanan 0-1.

They say a good start is half the battle. Well, that’s certainly how it played out in Saturday’s County Senior Camogie Championship quarter final with the fancied Drom & Inch doing the business early on to set the tone of the game.

Mind you, opponents Moycarkey/Borris, just up from intermediate, didn’t always follow the script and a purple patch for them midway through the first half brought them to within a point, but that was as good as it got as they were forced to give best to a superior side, who just knew how to work the ball well and had the experience and knowhow to execute it.

Ciara Cahill’s goal after just thirty seconds set Drom up and they fired over scores from Eimear McGrath and Miriam Campion (2) to give them a considerable advantage within the first seven minutes. That start was crucial to the win as Moycarkey were chasing the game and they expended a lot of energy in doing so.

The Moycarkey girls got to grips with the game and Ciara Shelly had their first score in the eighth minute – a point cancelled out by an Eimear McGrath free shortly afterwards.

However, Moycarkey/Borris began to move the ball better and the scores materialised as a result. They put together a great run of five unanswered points from Emma O’Sullivan, Ciara Shelly, Sarah Corcoran (2) and O’Sullivan again to bring them right back into the match. Only one of those points had come from a free and the hard work of the Moycarkey was paying off.

Drom & Inch didn’t panic though and an Eimear McGrath free settled them even though Emma O’Sullivan responded with one of her own for Moycarkey. And, Drom finished the half the stronger with three unanswered points from Cahill, Niamh Treacy and Eimear McGrath to leave them 1-8 to 0-7 to the good at the break.

It had been a very competitive first half with some great camogie played by both sides. However, Drom & Inch had the initiative and you always had the feeling that Moycarkey/Borris would need to find goals if they were to really mount a challenge. That was always going to be difficult, especially with Mairead Eviston, Aoife McGrath, Christina Bourke and Michelle Woodlock hurling really well in front of keeper Caoimhe Bourke.

Perhaps though it was the work-rate of Player of the Match Niamh Treacy which was the real difference between the sides. Her ability to win and distribute ball had a major influence and she moved deeper into her own half when the need arose to break up many a Moycarkey Borris attack.

Drom had two Eimear McGrath frees on the board very quickly upon resumption and when Niamh Treacy scored a fantastic individual goal in the 38th minute, it was game over. She collected the ball at midfield, raced all the way through, saw her first shot blocked, and then followed up to fire the decisive score.

At nine points in arrears, Moycarkey/Borris’ race was run but that didn’t stop them from continuing to try everything in their power to get back on track. Half back Eva Ralph moved further up-field and shot two points while Lucy Callanan had a long-range point also.

Drom & Inch though had also continued to find scores with Eimear McGrath getting two from play and one from a free to go alongside a Mary Bourke effort.

A comfortable win then for Drom & Inch who more-or-less dominated the game apart from that great Moycarkey/Borris spell midway through the first half.

Drom will be well pleased with their performance while at the same time acknowledging that there is plenty of scope for improvement. Apart from those already mentioned, Miriam Campion, Ciara Cahill and Mary Bourke were also prominent.

Moycarkey/Borris certainly rued that slow start but they will be the first to acknowledge that Drom were the superior side. Still, the performance of the Ralph’s, Amy Callanan, Ciara Shelly, Emma O’Sullivan, Sarah Corcoran and Amy McGovern give plenty of cause for optimism for them going forward while Joan O’Keeffe worked very hard all the way through.

TEAMS – Drom & Inch: Caoimhe Bourke (7), Eimear Cahill (6), Christina Brennan (7), Maureen Ryan (6), Michelle Woodlock (7), Mairead Eviston (7), Aoife McGrath (7), Niamh Long (6), Ciara Cahill (7), Niamh Treacy (9), Mary Bourke (6), Caroline Shanahan (7), Eimear McGrath (7), Tara Hoare (6), Miriam Campion (7).

Subs: Laurie Mullins (6) for Long (50); Sarah Jane Ormonde (NR) for Shanahan (56); Amy Cahill (NR) for Treacy (58).

Moycarkey/Borris: Molly O’Dwyer (6), Caoimh Fitzgibbon (6), Amy McGovern (7), Caitlin Shelly (6), Kate Dowling (6), Amy Callanan (7), Eva Ralph (8), Kate Ralph (8), Sarah Corocran (7), Lucy Callanan (6), Ciara Shelly (7), Joan O’Keeffe (6), Sophie Coughlan (6), Emma O’Sullivan (7), Alisha Kearney (6).

Subs: Rebecca Hogan (6) for Caitlin Shelly (43); Kate O’Keeffe (7) for Coughlan (45).

Referee: David Kennedy (Toomevara).