Tesco All-Ireland under 16B Camogie final

Laois 4-7 Antrim 3-7

Gallant Antrim come up just short

Pics by Mickey Morgan

Strong starts to each half, which saw Laois grab two goals in both periods, were a body blow which Antrim just could not recover from in Sunday’s All Ireland Under 16 B Camogie final at Dogheda. The young Saffron battled all the way and by half time had recovered well to trail by just two points (2-4 to 1-5). Orla McAlister reduced the deficit to just a single point after the restart, but Laois struck again with a quickfire double and when they stretched their lead out to nine with ten minutes to go, Antrim had a mountain to climb. To their credit the young Saffrons made a great effort and when hero of the semi-final Janey McIntosh got a goal they was hope once again.

The excitement really built when Eobha McAlister fired home to leave just three between the sides and those final minutes were filled with tension as they battled to save the game. However the Laois girls withstood the challenge and held on for the win on a scoreline of 4-7 to 3-7.

Defeat is hard to take, but it has been a great season for this team and their management. Looking back they have an Ulster title to celebrate and it could so easily have been an All Ireland as well, had they got the break of the ball on a few occasions on Sunday.

Antrim : E McGivern, C Boylan, A O’ Donnell, A Ferris, L Black, A McNeill capt, E Connolly, S Heggarty, M Devlin, E McAlister 1-0, O McAlister 0-4 (2fs), O McCurry, K McNeill, J McIntosh 2-2, C McNicholl

Subs: L McGarry for L Black (17), C Duffin 0-1 for O McCurry (42), C Duncan for C McNicholl (48).

Laois: M Henderson, A Delaney, A Guilfoyle, K Dwyer, E Carroll, L O’Connor, A Cuddy, S Slevin, C Cuddy, C Kirby, A Stynes, A Byrne 0-5 (fs), A Kirby 2-1, K O’Keefe 2-1, A Daly.

Subs: A Gee for A Stynes (21), JA Bennett for A Delaney (48).

Referee: EP Cassidy (Derry)