IN2 Engineering Senior Camogie Championship
Group Phase
Dunloy 0-10 Cushendall 1-7
Saturday 19 September
Brendan McTaggart reports from Dunloy
Dunloy and Cushendall played out an enthralling 60 minutes of championship camogie on Saturday afternoon that was the very textbook definition of a game of two halves. The game finished all square by the time referee Declan McGarry blew for the final whistle and called for the sliotar, yet both sides will feel like they left this one behind them.
Cushendall had a five point lead at half time and looked to be back to something close to their best following their defeat to Loughgiel last Saturday. Defensively they put in a brilliant performance to do what no other team in the county had managed to do to this point, keep Dunloy from raising a green flag.
While this was a collective effort, there were plenty of star individual performances. Caoimhe McNaughton and Laura Black were immense while Abi McNeill’s performance as a sweeper was out of the top drawer.
Up top, they caused the Dunloy defence problems but managed to score just 1-3 from open play. Orlaith McAllister with their major in a first half. Incredibly though, the Ruairi’s wouldn’t register a score after the half time break. The reasons for this was two fold – they played against a strong wind in the second half while Dunloy upped their intensity and aggression after the interval.
The Cuchullains didn’t fare much better from open play although just three of their ten white flags came from placed ball but just like the Ruairi’s, their star players on the day came from their back six.
Captain Katie Laverty was immense at the heart of their defence, especially in a second half as the home side upped their levels to get back into the contest. Caoimhe Conlon and Sarah McIlhatton also put in a serious shift while Eimear Johnston’s all action performance in the middle of the park helped Dunloy to edge their way back into the game.
Despite not raising a green flag, Eobha McAllister and Aine Magill were still the main threats in the Dunloy attack. They shared eight points between them with two of Eobha’s points coming from placed ball. They had support from Caitlin and Casey Crawford while Caoimhe Molloy was a constant threat throughout.
Despite playing into the wind, the home side opened the scoring through Aine Magill. She split the uprights soon after the restart by firing over the crossbar at the chapel end of Pearse Park.
Both sides looked to set up with a sweeper to nullify the attacking threat both posed before a brace of scores from Orlaith McCurry and Eva McNeill (free) edged the Ruairi’s ahead.
Aine Magill would restore parity by the eighth minute for her second of the contest but the home side wouldn’t add to their tally for fully 10 minutes as Cushendall began to take an element of control.
Eva McNeill restored their advantage from a ’45 before Orlaith McAllister managed to score the only goal of the game in the 11th minute. Trying to get on the end of a long ball from Brogan Abram, Orlaith’s attempted catch was deflected past Dunloy goalkeeper Clodagh O’Kane. A fortuitous goal with the deflection wrong footing the Cuchullains number one but it gave the Ruairi’s an element of control in the game.
Orlaith McCurry made it a five point lead by the half way mark as the visitors to Pearse Park looked to build an advantage and make use of the wind in their favour.
The home side had a sniff of a major at the other end of the pitch when Aine Magill found Eobha McAllister but the Dunloy star couldn’t capitalise with Cushendall keeper Orlagh Burke doing well to deny McAllister from point blank range.
Aine Magill and Eobha McAllister got the scoreboard ticking again for the Cuchullains but it was the Ruairi’s who were dictating the contest in that opening 30 minutes. Frees from Eva McNeill either side of Aine Magill’s fourth point of the half came before Orlaith McAllister dissected the posts in the last minute of the 30 to give Cushendall a 1-7 to 0-5 lead at the break.
Five points was far from an insurmountable lead given the wind Dunloy would have largely at their back in the second half. They made a solid start to the second half with Nicole McAtamney and Eobha McAllister both raising white flags from frees by the 8th minute of the second half. It would be another ten minutes before they would register another score however.
While the Cushendall defence were playing on top of their game, it was Dunloy’s delivery into their forwards that was hurting their challenge. Time and again they found a Cushendall player and when they did manage to by-pass the Ruairi’s half back line, the Cushendall back three and Orlagh Burke in goals were equally as tough a nut to crack.
That point was reinforced when Caoimhe Molloy’s attempt at a point dropped short and with Aine Magill looking to pounce, the Ruairi’s scrambled. Her first attempt was blocked by Orlagh Burke and while Aine was first to the rebound, her effort was cleared off the line by Anna McNeill who stepped back to cover the danger.
The home side looked to reshuffle and moving Kasey Crawford out to the ’45 looked to be an inspired decision when she cut the Cushendall lead to two points with 11 minutes of the hour remaining.
Eobha McAllister cut that deficit to the minimum just two minutes later and it looked like the home side were clicking into gear at the business end of the hour but the Cushendall defence still managed to make life incredibly difficult for the Cuchullains.
Eobha McAllister split the posts for his fourth of the day and second from place ball in the 59th minute but neither side would find a winner. The home side looked more likely and had a couple of chances at the death but had to be content with a share of the championship points on offer.
In a strange way, despite clawing their way back into this game, the Cuchullains won’t be overly pleased with their overall performance. They remain unbeaten and will have plenty of the momentum that brings going into their semi final with Ballycastle in two weeks time.
Cushendall will take plenty of positives from this performance. Some of the bite they lacked against Loughgiel was on show at Pearse Park but it will take another improved performance if they are to dethrone the Shamrocks in their semi final in a fortnights time.
TEAMS
Dunloy Starting XV: Clodagh O’Kane; Sarah McIlhatton, Brid Magill, Katherine Mullan; Eilis Kearns, Katie Laverty, Caoimhe Conlon; Eimear Johnston, Bronach Magill; Nicole McAtamney, Caitlin Crawford, Caoimhe Molloy; Aine Magill, Casey Crawford, Eobha McAllister
- Scorers: A Magill 0-4; E McAllister 0-4 (2f); N McAtamney 0-1 (1f), Casey Crawford 0-1
Cushendall Starting XV: Orlagh Burke; Colleen Patterson, Anna McNeill, Caoimhe McNaughton; Tamara Black, Abi McNeill, Laura Black; Dervla Cosgrove, Siobhan McKillop; Brogan Abram, Orlaith McCurry, Cara O’Boyle; Amy McAllister, Orlaith McAllister, Eva McNeill
- Subs: Rhianna Black for O McCurry (47), Kady McNeill for C O’Boyle (47); Cliodhna Thompson for A McAllister (51); Laoise McCollam for T Black (53)
- Scorers: E McNeill 0-4 (3f, 1’45); O McAllister 1-1; O McCurry 0-2
Referee: Declan McGarry (Loughgiel)
TO SEE MORE OF BRENDAN’S PHOTOS FROM THE GAME, CLICK ON THE LINK….
https://myalbum.com/album/JgZAYF3rdDoSAy/?invite=1886d2b0-d50c-4ff8-9245-a7f1dad058dd
