Very Ireland Camogie League Division 1B round five
Antrim 2-14 Wexford 3-14
THIS outstanding game changed dramatically in the 27th minute when a shot from Anais Curran came back off an upright.
Colleen Patterson gathered possession but was tackled immediately by Linda Bulger. Referee John Dermody, to the astonishment of everyone in the ground, awarded a penalty for charging against Patterson.
Ciara O’Connor buried the sliotar in the net to put Wexford into the lead for the first time in the game and shortly after Leah Walsh pounced on a shot that Caitriona Graham parried for a second goal.
Wexford, from chasing the game, were 2-7 to 0-8 ahead at the break.
Antrim had started brilliantly with the opening three points from Caitrín Dobbin, including two frees.
Although the visitors drew level with the next three points, Antrim were always on the front foot and made the running up until the penalty award.
Siobhán and Katie McKillop, as well as Shannon Graham, were all on target and the Saffrons went 0-8 to 0-6 up after 25 minutes.
Anais Curran pulled one back with her third point before the two goals put Wexford in control.
The gap opened to two goals on the re-start with a free from Ciara O’Connor. But Antrim were fighting and tagged on the next three points. Áine Magill’s score might well have been a goal for Caitrín Dobbin; her shot came off the base of the post to Magill with the goalie stranded.
However, at the other end, Curran’s shot from distance ended in the Antrim net and despite a good point from Siobhán McKillop and a free from Dobbin, Wexford were still 3-8 to 0-13 ahead by the midway point of the half.
Cassie McArthur came off the bench for Magill after 48 minutes and her first touch was to finish a move from the McKillops with an Antrim goal. The gap was down to two points.
But Ciara O’Connor took control at the other end with two excellent points from play and then another from a free to make the game safe for her team.
Deep in injury-time, Róisín McCormick and Lucia McNaughton drove forward to set McArthur up for her second goal, but it came too late to be built on.
Antrim manager Elaine Dowds agreed that the penalty changed the game.
“Of course it did,” she said afterwards. “We had all the momentum coming up to the incident and Colleen had control of the ball, ready to clear. I just cannot understand how that turned out to be a foul against her – and a booking!
“If you look at the stats from that game. We had six players booked. Wexford had none. Was it a dirty game? Were we deserving of six cards?
“But I have to give great credit to the girls. Each of the goals hit us hard, but we bounced back from each and never give up and I am really pleased about that.”
Antrim miss out on a league decider with Wexford now going into a south-east derby final with unbeaten Waterford.
SCORERS
Antrim C Dobbin 0-9 (7f); C McArthur 2-0; S McKillop 0-2; S Graham, K McKillop & Á Magill 0-1 each
Wexford C O’Connor 1-7 (1-0pen, 5f); A Curran 1-4; L Walsh 1-0; L Bulger, S O’Connor & E Tomkins (0-1)
