Armagh City Hotel Ulster Camogie senior club championship semi-final
Clonduff (Down) 1-14 Loughgiel (Antrim) 6-13
Match report by the Saffron Gael with photos from Michael Corcoran at Clonduff Park
In a tightly contested first half ending in just one point of a difference, Clonduff 1-09 Loughgiel 2-7, Loughgiel would reach deep into their war chest in the second half and drew out their big event experience to deliver a volley of goals that stunned Clonduff and put the game beyond any doubt of a Shamrock win.
Ironically it was the first half that seen Loughgiel on the ropes at times, as Clonduff stepped up to dominate play in periods, leaving the Hilltown fans wondering could this be the upset they were hoping for. Despite winning the toss and having an element of the breeze on their backs, Loughgiel seemed overly focused on scoring early goals rather than finding the ball net, but once the Antrim County champions found their stride, the half time whistle was nothing more than a pause in their game plan.
Clonduff opened the game with determination and strength that held Loughgiel back from advancing deep into the scoring zone, and scored the first three points, one from a 45 from O’Hagan and two from Sara Louise Graffin, just inside the first four minutes.
However, by the 10th minute, Loughgiel swung the game that left Clonduff trailing by three points. Initially, Loughgiel’s Anna Connolly’s point was followed with two from Lucia McNaughton and then Connolly sent Roisin McCormick blazing through for a one on one with goalie Cassie Fitzpatrick, the sliotar finding the net from close range.
Clonduff instigated a recovery using their three prominent players, O’Hagan and the Carr sisters. By the 20th minute they were just a point down, 0-7 to 1-5 and then Sara Louise Graffin sent O’Hagan through to find the corner of Loughgiel’s net.
A few minutes later the game had an element of drama as Christine McCloskey reached low to grab a dying sliotar allegedly off the ground, an almost impossible call for referee Sean Curran, but McCloskey wouldt ake the advantage and sent McCormick through, drilling the sliotar past goalkeeper Fitzpatrick.
Although Clonduff benefited from late points from Orla Gribben and Paula O’Hagan, Curran’s half time whistle saw the teams run in at Clonduff 1-9 Loughgiel 2-7.
It was Clonduff’s turn to benefit from playing down the pitch on the restart, with what looked like a slight increase in the breeze, but Clonduff weren’t even able to buy luck today as Loughgiel’s Annie Lynn lengthened her stride for the point and as it dropped viciously down out of the air, it beat Fitzpatrick, dropping in over her head for the goal.
Worse was to follow from the poc out when a tactical move involving McCormick and Lucia McNaughton ended with Katie McKillop firing to the net. McKillop, who hasn’t been prominent in recent games, featured well today and posed a continual threat to Clonduff in her full forward roll.
More drama would develop in the game, as McCormick’s 45 dropped short that had the hall marks of a lob, but was blocked out into the path of an alert Caitrin Dobbin, sweeping the sliotar to the roof of the net. It was now 5-7 to 1-10 and the game was all but over. To their credit, Clonduff remained engaged and alert, looking to create opportunities and close the gap, but a tenacious Loughgiel defence, with solid performances from Clare McKillop, Ciara Laverty and Emma McFadden, would deny Clonduff any hope of developing anything substantial withing 40 metres.
Tracking in on Clonduff’s goal area, much to the groans from of some of the fans, Loughgiel’s Caitrin Dobbin won a penalty in the 45th minute as she was impeded. McCormick stepped up, eyed inside the left post and despite a brave stretch by Fitzpatrick, completed her hat-trick. In the last fifteen minutes of the game, O’Hagan, split the posts four times, with Loughgiel replying with five excellent efforts from play to set up a final against Derry Camogie County champions, Swatragh on Saturday 16th November.
Clonduff will gain from today’s encounter in the long run. Their championship run in the Down fixtures, whilst immensely competitive, couldn’t have fully prepared them for today’s game, where their opponents have annually built on the benefits from exposure to provincial and All Ireland games.
Loughgiel starting panel and scorers
E Boyle, C McKillop, K Lynn, C Laverty, M O’Hara, E McFadden, M McGarry, A Boyle, A Connolly (0-1), C McCloskey Capt (0-2), L McNaughton (0-2), A Lynn (1-1), K McKillop (1-1), R McCormick (3-5, 1-0 pen, 0-3 fs), C Dobbin (1-0).
Subs: F McVeigh for M O’Hara (43), A McKillop for C Dobbin (48), S Deery for C McClockey (55), O Laverty (0-1) for R McCormick (55)
Clonduff starting panel and scorers
C Fitzpatrick, K Morgan, J Boden, I O’Hare, C Kearney, B Fitzpatrick, E Rafferty, N McConville, C McGilligan Capt, E Shields, SL Graffin (0-3), O McCusker, P O’Hagan (1-9, 0-4 fs), F Carr (0-1 f), O Gribben (0-1).
Subs: C Byrne for N McConville (19), N McConville for O McCusker (23), A Morgan for N McConville (38), T Savage for K Morgan (59)
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