Allianz All-Ireland Junior A Camogie Championship final
Coláiste Choilm, Ballincollig 3-8 St Patrick’s, Maghera 0-13
A DOUBLE goal strike from Leah Hannigan in the 26th minute turned this Corn Gobnait final firmly in favour of Cork’s Coláiste Choilm Ballincollig, who went on to win their first ever title, condemning St Patrick’s, Maghera to a second successive final defeat.
Hannigan had already scored a goal after nine minutes when Emily McGrath took two defenders out with a hand-pass from a move on the right wing.
Maghera dominated from then until the double-strike and had taken the lead in the 20th minute when Orla McCartney turned quickly to land their seventh point.
The goals changed the game; Coláiste Choilm led at the break by 3-3 to 0-7 and maintained that lead throughout the second half, responding each time Emma Quinn tagged on a score for Maghera at the other end.
Hannigan provided a huge threat through the second half without adding to her interval total, while the other main scorer, free-taker Rachel Murphy, drove her team forward at every opportunity.
Another star for the Munster champions was goalkeeper Tara O’Donoghue who pulled off some superb saves throughout, the one from sub Brianna Donaghy 10 minutes after the break probably instrumental in preventing Maghera staging a comeback.
There were stars in the Maghera performance as well – Ellie Griffin, Brannagh Brolly and Eimhear Conway at the back, Emma Quinn in the middle, and Mary Therese McCullagh up front.
Maghera started confidently enough, with two points from McCullagh that were matched by one from play and one from a free by Rachel Murphy at the other end.
Murphy added a third from a free before Hannigan’s goal. The next quarter of an hour was dominated by Maghera; scores from Róisín McAtamney, Catherine McKenna, Emma Quinn (free), Aoibh Mulholland and Orla McCartney edged them ahead. But they also had goal-bound shots well saved by O’Donoghue
The first of the two goals came from a mishit free from Rachel Murphy that was taken down by the Maghera defence and Hannigan nipped in to find the corner of the net. Her third goal came from a speculative shot for a point from the wing that dipped into the net.
Murphy added two frees on the restart and full-forward Clara Murphy made it 3-6 to 0-8 after 36 minutes. However, Quinn fired over a number of frees but Maghera couldn’t get the breakthrough goal, with O’Donoghue stretching to keep them at bay on a few occasions.
Ballincollig were sharp on the break and tagged on a couple of useful points, while Ellie Griffin got an exceptional hook on Hannigan in the 52nd minute to keep her team in with a chance.
Alas, that chance didn’t come about and Maghera lost their fifth final over the past 35 years, while Coláiste Choilm become only the second Cork team to lift Corn Gobnait 18 years after St Mary’s, Charleville took their ninth crown in 2006.
Danske Bank Nagle Cup final
Lismore Comprehensive 3-8 St John the Baptist, Portadown 4-12
A HAT-TRICK of goals from Daire McAeavey saw St John the Baptist, Portadown collect a first-ever Danske Bank Nagle Cup yesterday afternoon in An Spórtlann at Coláiste Feirste against a young but very determined Lismore Comprehensive squad.
The Portadown side got on top in the opening half and led by 3-6 to 1-6 at the break with two goals from McAreavey and the other from Brendan Ferreira, while Liam Stevenson bagged the Lismore goal.
McAreavey and Ferreira accounted for all but a point of their team’s total, although there was significant input from Sean Hamill and Aodhán Walsh.
The Portadown front two benefited from the quick ball out of defence, while Lismore tended to be that little bit more laboured in their build-up and susceptible to the turnover from the more physically stronger John the Baptist defenders.
That was illustrated in the opening quarter when Portadown hit 1-1 from two attacks and then remained on the defensive with a sweeper for the next 10 minutes, soaking up the pressure and conceding just a single point.
Lismore introduced Shea McAliskey during the second half, the Clann Éireann forward still hampered by a knee injury. However, he raised their challenge with two goals and it took a third goal from McAreavey nine minutes from time to make the game safe.
In the final few minutes Portadown introduced Ryan Lee Flynn, another player on his way back from injury, and he helped his team over the line.