Armagh City Hotel Ulster Senior Camogie Championship final :
Antrim 1-11 Derry 0-11
SATURDAY’S Armagh City Hotel Ulster senior championship final was played on one of the hottest days of the year to date and demanded a lot of stamina from the players.
Both Derry and Antrim gave their best efforts in a physically demanding encounter, but Antrim, despite their early season problems, had that little bit more experience and were able to contain Derry and eke out victory.
Derry got off to a poor start with five successive wides, while Antrim scored from their first three efforts at scores, a point each from Caitrín Dobbin, Dervla Cosgrove (free) and Maeve Kelly. From then onwards Derry seemed to be chasing the game and each time they got level, Antrim seemed to take off again.
However Antrim’s scoring accuracy wasn’t particularly impressive; they accumulated 11 wides over the hour- although many of those can be credited to the Derry defence who stuck well to their task.
After that early Antrim burst, Aoife Shaw found the target with two frees and Áine Barton tapped over from the right wing to tie the scores while Antrim’s shooting became wayward.
They had gone 12 minutes without a score until Róisín McCormick picked out Erin Coulter with a cross field pass after 22 minutes. The Glenravel defender pushed forward and drew the defender before off-loading to Caitrín Dobbin for the only goal of the game.
Nevertheless Derry were back level by the break with two quick points from Áine Barton and another from Anna Cassidy while Antrim goalie Cáitríona Graham brought off a good save during that period.
On the re-start, Niamh Gribbin stood up well to an early goal effort and Graham brought off another stop at the other end while Clare McKillop’s last ditch interception denied Aoife Shaw another shot at goal in the 44th minute.
By then Dervla Cosgrove had grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck with three points and another from a Róisín McCormick free had Antrim’s three points’ lead restored at 1-7 to 0-7.
Points from Áine Barton and Aimee Lennon reduced the gap, but the Saffrons finished strongly with scores from Sarah Fyfe, Róisín McCormick (free) and two from sub Cassie McArthur to claim their 49th title.
There was a number of excellent performances, mainly from defenders on either side and it wasn’t a surprise that it went to Antrim’s wing-half back Erin Coulter whose driving runs through the centre caused Derry problems and indeed created the only goal of the game.
The victory will have lifted Antrim spirits after their troubles early in the season. But it might also have fired up Derry for the meeting of the pair in the first round of the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland senior championship in a fortnight at an Antrim venue.
Antrim: C Graham, F McIntosh, M McGarry, C McKillop, E Coulter, E Martin, A Boyle, E Johnston, S McKillop, M Kelly 0-1, S Fyfe 0-1, F Kelly, C Dobbin 1-1, R McCormick 0-2 frees, D Cosgrove 0-4, 2 frees.
Subs: C McArthur 0-2 for F Kelly (36), J McIntosh for D Cosgrove (58)
Derry: N Gribbin, C McEldowney, N Quinn, S McGill, R Downey, A Ní Chaiside, A Cassidy 0-2, D O’Kane, M Kerr, Á Barton 0-4, 3 frees, A Shaw 0-2 frees, E McGuigan, O Rafferty, B Rogers, O Hull 0-1.
Subs: A Lennon 0-2 for B Rogers (44), R McAllister for E McGuigan (50), Á McGill for A Shaw (58)
Referee: P McDonald (Cavan)
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