AIB All-Ireland Junior B club final: St Munna’s (Westmeath) 2-7 Crossmaglen Rangers (Armagh) 1-5
CROSSMAGLEN never fully recovered from a goal directly from a Sandra McGrath free in the 23rd minute of this AIB All-Ireland Junior B club camogie final at NGDC Abbotstown.
McGrath went for a point from just outside the 45, but the sliotar ended in the Cross net and put her side 1-2 to 0-3 ahead.
It gave St Munna’s an important foothold in the game just when Aislinn McMahon’s third free had moved the Armagh champions ahead for the third time.
Although Lauren McConville found Eva Cassidy with a quick pass a few minutes later and the teenager’s snap-shot from 25 metres ended in the top corner to put Crossmaglen back in the game, McGrath grabbed her second goal in first half injury time after her sister Sheila had created the opening.
It meant that St Munna’s turned around with a 2-3 to 1-3 lead.
In contrast to the semi-finals that were both high-scoring wins, this final was a tight affair with most of the scores coming from frees.
Both defences were on top of their markers and goal chances were rare.
Sandra McGrath finished with a match-winning contributionof 2-5 but didn’t pick up the Player of the Match award. Instead it went to Abbie Reihill who seemed to be everywhere while Caitriona Egan and goalie Bridget Leavy were just some of the others whose contributions were critical to the result.
Leavy made a brilliant save from McConville early in the tie and then denied Cassidy in the second half.
Sandra McGrath finished with a match-winning contribution of 2-5 but didn’t pick up the Player of the Match award. Instead it went to Abbie Reihill who seemed to be everywhere while Caitriona Egan and goalie Bridget Leavy were just some of the others whose contributions were critical to the result.
However Sandra McGrath coolly converted three frees, two in the final three minutes of normal time and one in the fourth minute of injury time to ensure victory.
St Munna’s scorers: Sandra McGrath 2-6 (1-6 frees), Sheila McGrath 0-1
Crossmaglen scorers: E Cassidy 1-1; A McMahon 0-3 frees; F Fitzpatrick 0-1
St Munna’s: B Leavy, A Glynn, F Glynn, S McGovern, R O’Neill, Shauna McGrath, S Carey, C Egan, L Geoghegan, N Burns, Sheila McGrath, Sandra McGrath, A Galvin, O Glynn, A Reihill.
Sub: D Martin for Galvin (h-t), N Burnsfor Geoghegan (57)
Crossmaglen: S Califf, S Hanratty, R McConville, C Len, E McMahon, A McEntee, G Fitzpatrick, A McConville, A McMahon, F Fitzpatrick, O Donaldson, B O’Brien, M O’Callaghan, L McConville, E Cassidy.
Sub: K Shields for A McConville (38), R Leneghan for Donaldson (40), M Hughes for O’Callaghan (52),B O’Neill for G Fitzpatrick (60)
Referee: E Loughnane (Galway)