U9 Camogie -v- St Annes
The U9 camogie team had their first league match against St. Anne’s in Bohernabreena on Sunday. The panel of 11 girls all played a big part in the 6 – 3 win to Naomh Olaf. St. Anne’s scored first about 15 minutes into the game but the equaliser came soon after with a goal by Chloe Hughes which came as a result of a great pass across the goals from the right wing by Ciara Murphy. Ciara scored a further 2 goals in the second half and constantly put the goalkeeper under a lot of pressure. Ciara McLoughlin stopped a number of shots on goal by Anne’s and her quick and accurate delivery from the restart to the mid field, helped set up the play for some of the other goals which were scored by Ciara Donnelly, Elizabeth McDonough, Emma Smith and Amanda Connors. Unfortunately for Amanda her goal was disallowed as the referee had to stop the game for an injury to one of the Anne’s players – but it was a well taken goal after a lot of hard work. The midfield was dominated by Ciara Donnelly, who had a great game and had a number of near misses from far out. Katie O’Rourke worked very hard for all of the game and played in the forwards, mid and backs. The backline was controlled by Emma Smith who played with great enthusiasm for the entire match and who helped the other backs Ellie McKeever and Emma Tynan to settle in. Aoife McLoughlin showed great promise and played with great eagerness as a forward and later in the game as a back. St. Anne’s scored two goals in the second half.
Well done to all the girls on a great game of camogie and in particular to the 4 girls who played their first camogie league match – Chloe Hughes, Aoife McLoughlin, Emma Tynan and Ellie McKeever. The final score 6 – 3 to Naomh Olaf.
U11 Camogie League -v- Oliver Plunkett /ER
With Plunketts sitting in second place when the league tables were published last, this was a big match for us. With only 14 out of the 21 panel available to play the mentors were feeling a bit uneasy. This was the smallest group we have had available since the start of the league. We asked the girls for a huge effort and this is what we got especially in the first half where our girls never allowed Plunketts to settle at all. We kept the play in their defence and got our reward of a goal through Jordan Bent mid way through the half. With Shannon McDonagh, Chloe O’Ceallaigh, Saoirse Melwani, Rachel Morris, Eimear Hughes and Amy McGrath all getting their chances to score we should have had the match won at half time. Hayleigh Gunning and Róisín MacLoughlin did tremendous work at mid field with Hayleigh helping the forwards and Róisín waiting to pounce on any ball coming back out from the Plunketts back line. Aoife O’Rourke ‘player of the match’ came into her own last Saturday at half back chasing and clearing balls at crucial moments. Rachel Mahon played her part too on the other wing. Laura Hayes and Jodi Ellis barely saw the ball in the first half and goalie Jemma McNulty didn’t get a sniff. We started the second half well and Shannon McDonagh scored a great second goal ten minutes in. It was after this that Plunketts started to play as our two midfielders tired covering so much ground. Their two half backs moved to midfield and sent ball after ball into our goalmouth one of which they scored from. We were living on our nerves for the last ten minutes as balls went wide. Our girls were dead on their feet! Plunketts made one final attack and sent a rocket towards our net but goalie Jemma McNulty saved the day for us by connecting first time and sent an equally as good rocket back out the field. We were delighted to here the final whistle. This will keep us in the top half of the table where we have every intention of staying and indeed moving up another few places.
Panel on Day : Róisín MacLoughlin, Jodie Ellis, Saoirse Melwani, Laura Hayes, Amy McGrath, Jordan Bent, Rachel Mahon, Shannon McDonagh, Jemma McNulty, Eimear Hughes, Hayleigh Gunning, Aoife O’Rourke, Rachel Morris and Chloe O’Ceallaigh
U10 Camogie League -v- St Marks
This was the first visit of any Olaf’s camogie team to the treeless open landscape of St. Marks on a cold and nippy morning. With 15 of the 16 panel available to play we had plenty of strength in depth. Last year at U9 level Marks were by far the strongest team and as a result we were expecting a tough skilful match. Our girls played very well with Maeve Lynch scoring a goal in the first half, again we could have had another 3 or 4 by half time but we could not put them over the line. The second half is all skills and ‘player of the match’ Clara O’Sullivan scored two magnificent goals from the hand from out field to wild applause from the Olaf’s and Marks supporters. It was a fine display from all the girls who played in different positions throughout the game. Panel on the day; Aoife McGrath, Maeve Lynch, Ellen Brien, Sarah Smyth, Grace Lanigan, Rachel O’Crowley, Fiona Meehan, Lianna O’Connell, Aine Keogh, Jessica Tynan, Ali Jones, Clara O’Sullivan, Molly Kearns, Amy Sutton, Yseult Gallagher and Niamh O’Shea Scanlon
