All Ireland U23 Camogie Championship
Final Score: Clare 2-11 (17) | Antrim 3-6 (15)
Pics by Eugene McCafferty
Despite making the long and demanding trek south to Inagh, the Antrim Under-23 camogie team came up agonizingly short in their All-Ireland U23B Championship opener, falling to Clare by a narrow two-point margin following a thrilling, goal-heavy contest.
The opening half produced a highly unusual scoreline, heavily defined by Antrim’s clinical ability to find the back of the net. While Clare relied on early points from Ellen Casey and the sharpshooting of Player of the Match Aisling Cooney (who picked off three first-half frees), Antrim made their strikes count.
In the 9th minute, Eobha McAllister stepped up and buried a crucial free into the Clare net. Though it was Antrim’s only score for most of the half, they struck gold again deep into added time when Cliona Griffin rattled the net for a second time. At the break, the scoreboard told a fascinating story: Clare 0-6, Antrim 2-0.
Clare’s Restart Surge & Antrim’s Resilience Clare came out of the dressing room firing. Within five minutes of the restart, they completely flipped the game’s momentum, finding the net twice through Ellen Casey and Aoibheann McNamara to take control of the tie.
However, the Antrim girls showed massive character and refused to let the game slip away. Passing the midway point of the second half, McAllister and Griffin tapped over much-needed points to steady the ship. Then, in the 48th minute, Griffin struck for her second goal of the game, catapulting Antrim right back into the mix.
A Nail-Biting Finish Cooney responded for Clare with two vital frees, but Antrim launched a fierce late rally. In the final ten minutes, Eobha McAllister slotted two more points, and Aimee Ferris added another, slashing the deficit to an absolute minimum with just three minutes left on the clock.
Unfortunately for the traveling side, they couldn’t find the equalizer. Aisling Cooney had the final say for the hosts, converting her ninth point of the afternoon from a placed ball to seal a hard-fought 2-11 to 3-6 victory for Clare.
Despite the heartbreaking result, Antrim can take massive positives from their resilience and attacking threat as they look ahead to hosting Limerick next Sunday in Round Two.
Team Lineups & Scorers
Clare
- Scorers: A Cooney (0-9, all frees), E Casey (1-1), A McNamara (1-0), E O’Driscoll (0-1)
- Starting XV: A Anderson, C Queally, C Lilly, C Ryan, G McMahon, A Walsh, A Marren, J Daly, D Griffin, E O’Driscoll, A Cooney, C Cahill, A McNamara, E Casey, M Millea
Antrim
- Scorers: C Griffin (2-1), E McAllister (1-4, including 1-2 frees), A Ferris (0-1)
- Starting XV: M Gately, S Fyfe, A O’Donnell, D Dobbin, S O’Neill, K Molloy, C Crawford, S Hegarty, O McAlister, C O’Boyle, A Ferris, E McAllister, C Griffin, E McIntosh, J McIntosh
