Derry Senior League
Slaughtneil 3-13 Eglish 1-3
Lavey 2-7 Ballinascreen 4-12
SLAUGHTNEIL made it four comfortable victories in four outings in the Derry Senior League at the weekend when two late goals gave them a 3-13 to 1-3 win over Eglish.
The Tyrone team never looked like winning the tie, but they set up defensively with Aisling Jordan doing well as sweeper relying on the quick break for scores.
Going into half-time at 0-8 to 0-3, they would have been happy enough, but a late goal from Olivia Rafferty changed the picture.
Eglish remained competitive for the second half, but Katie McMullan came off the bench to grab two late goals for Slaughtneil proving that the champions are still a formidable challenge for anyone.
Last year’s county finalists Ballinascreen are also shaping up well although it took until the second half to break down an improving Lavey side with Aoife Shaw excelling in a forward role.
Maria Rafferty’s goal left Lavey a point in arrears at the break, but goals from Mary Hegarty and Eimhear McGuigan pulled the ‘Screen clear for a 4-12 to 2-7 win.
The Newbridge v Swatragh game was postponed and will now be played on Monday August 31, which means the former will have three games in seven days. Tonight they play Lavey and then face Eglish at the weekend.
The pick of the weekend games will be in Ballinascreen where Slaughtneil are visiting, while Swatragh will play host to Bellaghy.
Antrim Senior Camogie Championship
THE last two bouts in the round robin section of the Antrim Senior Championship take place this week and the big game is tonight in Loughgiel.
The home side, smarting from defeat by Ballycastle 10 days ago, blitzed Cushendall last Tuesday and now take on unbeaten Dunloy.
Dunloy came close to beating the Shamrocks in a league encounter three weeks ago, leading all the way through until a goal from Ciara Laverty seven minutes from time sealed a 3-6 to 0-11 victory.
In the other game Cushendall should beat Portglenone, but Ruairí Óg will still find it difficult to lift themselves out of the fourth qualifying place when they meet Ballycastle on Saturday.
The other weekend game should result in a win for Dunloy against Portglenone.
The quarter-finals in both the Intermediate and Junior championships also take place over the next few days. Both are straight knock-out competitions with the semi-finals scheduled for the first weekend in September.
Down Senior Camogie Championship
Ballygalget 1-14 Portaferry 0-7
Liatroim Fontenoys 1-16 Ballycran 4-6
FOR the second game in a row, Liatroim scored a last gasp goal to edge home in a championship game by a single point margin and Kelly Duffin’s late winner will be enough to put the Fontenoys into next month’s semi-finals.
Both holders Clonduff and Liatroim have two wins each from two starts in their group. They face each other in the last group game this coming Sunday with little at stake other than whom each lines up for the semi-finals.
The loser will probably be facing Ballygalget after the Mitchel’s won the Ards’ derby on Saturday, while the winner could well be facing Portaferry.
Liatroim were probably the better team over the hour on Sunday, but were not as clinical as Ballycran in front of goals, with Catherine McGourty creating the space for the rest of her forwards to exploit.
McGourty scored the opening two goals to put Ballycran ahead by 2-1 to 0-3, but Liatroim’s experienced trio of centre-half back Dearbhla Magee, Karen McMullan and Aimee McAleenan kept their team going and only a point separated the teams at half-time, 2-4 to 0-9.
Erin Caldwell scored a third Ballycran goal, but Liatroim had edged ahead at the second water-break. However a fourth goal, this time from Bríd McGrattan, put Ballycran in the driving seat once more.
As time ebbed away however Dearbhla Magee latched on to a poc out to burst forward and set up Kelly Duffin for the Fontenoys’ late goal.
The Ards’ derby was missing the injured Niamh Mallon, and without her Portaferry struggled against a Ballygalget side that is well-fancied to bring home a first title in half a century.
An early goal from Beth Coulter put Ballygalget in command and they built up a match winning lead of 1-9 to 0-2 by the break, Saoirse Sands from frees the only response Portaferry had to a series of points from Erin Hagan and Coulter.
The Ports battled hard in the second half and matched Ballygalget’s five points with some good scores from play and frees, but they surely need Mallon back if they are to make it back into the final for a third successive season.
Liatroim: Kelly Duffin 1-1, Aimee McAleenan 0-7, 0-5 frees, Karen McMullan 0-3, Dearbhla Magee 0-2, 0-1 free, Alannah McCrickard 0-2, Aoife McCrickard 0-2.
Ballycran: Catherine McGourty 2-5, 0-3 frees, Erin Caldwell 1-0, Bríd McGrattan 0-1, Caoimhe O’Prey 0-1.
Ballygalget: Beth Coulter 1-3, Erin Hagan 0-9, 0-7 frees, Nicola Braniff 0-1, Tara Monan 0-1.
Portaferry: Saoirse Sands 0-5 frees, Gerra McGrattan 0-1, Ciara Doran 0-1.
