A very assured interview by Under 16 captain Abi McNeill
Unfortuately the weather was far from ideal for the Antrim Camogie Press Night in Loughgiel for the Junior and Under 16 teams who are preparing for thier All Ireland finals, the Under 16s in Drogheda on Sunday against Laois and the Juniors in Croke Park against Armagh on Sunday week. However the young fans who turned up did not mind as they got the chance to meet the players and get autographs signed.
Jerome Quinn Media were there to do some interviews
Junior team management Brian Kearney and Mark McFadden Star of the Junior semi-final Megan McGarry signs a hurl Mark McFadden and team Coach Shane Elliott
Tesco All-Ireland under 16B Camogie Championship semi-final
Antrim 4-10 Offaly 3-7
A hat-trick of goals from full forward Janey McInsosh steered Antrim through to their first Tesco All-Ireland under 16 final since taking the 2018 title in a derby decider with Derry, completing a great weekend for the county.
The Antrim girls got the perfect start in Mattock Rangers ground in Coolon on Sunday as they hit three points in the first two minutes through Janey McIntosh (2) and Eobha McAlister and they increased that with a further goal and two points before the sixth minute with McIntosh hitting the first of her 3 goals.
Offaly came back with two points but Janey fired in her second goal in the 12th minute. Surprisingly there was just one further Antrim score during the rest of the first half, a point from midfielder Shannagh Heggarty as Offaly closed the game down. The Offaly girls started to find a bit of form and they managed to claw their way back into the game and by the time the half time whistle souded they had cut the deficit back to seven points (2-6 to 0-5)
Janey McIntosh – Pic by Mickey Morgan
Ballycastle star McIntosh completed her hat-trick by the 43rd minute as the Saffrons continued to dominate, though they got a little slack at the back and let Offaly in for three late goals to narrow the gap to just two points.
It was a nerve wracking time for the Antrim fans at this stage, but Orla McAlister settled the nerves as she added a fourth goal and McIntosh brought her tally to 3-4 as he slotted over the last point of the game. McIntosh and McAlister were the starts but there was also top displays by Abi McNeill and Laura Black in defence and Shannagh Heggarty and Eobha McAlister around the middle of the park.
At the end of two and half hours of tension and drama at O’Connor Park in Tullamore, Antrim confirmed their place in the final of the 2022 Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Premier Junior Camogie Championship alongside Armagh, with Megan McGarry’s free in the second period of added time proving to be the decisive score that settled a remarkable contest.
The Saffrons were the stronger side in the opening 20 minutes and held a four-point lead thanks to Dearvla Cosgrove’s early goal, but a string of scores from Clare in the closing minutes before half-time levelled the tie, and the teams were effectively inseparable after that.
Cosgrove found the net with eight minutes gone after she capitalised on a defensive error to pounce from close range, and Antrim were the most impressive side in the opening quarter, picking off some very impressive scores from Bríd Magill and Ellen Leech. Clare, for their part, were busy and physical in the middle third, but they were dependent on the accuracy for Shauna Canny for a lot of their scores. At half-time it was 1-4 to 0-7, with all seven Clare points coming from dead ball chances.
Rachel Kelly was Clare’s first scorer from play early in the second half, but Antrim still moved two points clear by the 42nd minute, but that was to be as big a lead as there was at any stage for the remainder of the game. Aoife Anderson roused the Clare support with a glorious point, Orlaith Laverty came off the bench to reply in kind for Antrim, and the temperature was rising with every tension-filled moment.
Canny’s first point from play gave Clare their first lead of the game after 52 minutes, Fionnuala Kelly and Cosgrove swung the lead back to Antrim, then a point in the 60th minute from Anderson looked like it might be the winner, even after Canny missed a difficult change with just 30 seconds of stoppage time remaining.
That was all Antrim needed as they won the puckout, sent the sliotar forward and it fell to Nuala Devlin to set up Claire Kearney for the equaliser.
Antrim carried that momentum into extra time and moved two clear again, but Clare hung in there, and with tiredness becoming the key factor in the game as it moved into the second period of overtime, they earned a 45 that Sarah Loughnane pointed to prolong the incredible drama for two more spells of five minutes each, which went closer to ten by the time all the stoppage time was played.
Megan McGarry overcame her aching limbs to send a long range free over the bar in the first of the two moieties, and that ended up carrying the day – not without more heartstopping moments however, particularly when Aisling Cooney’s shot from 40 metres dropped short and was parried by Áine Grahan, but then swept clear just as the two umpires looked at each other to confirm that the ball hadn’t crossed the plane of the goal-line.
The very last Clare attack, in the ninth minute out of the last five, fell to Róisín Powell and she mustered up the energy to drive at the Antrim defence. However her attempt to find a colleague was anticipated and blocked by Elis Kearns, and that final intervention saw Antrim through to an All-Ireland final in a fortnight against Armagh.
SCORERS FOR ANTRIM: D Cosgrove 1-5 (3f, 1 45); Bríd Magill 0-3; E Laverty 0-2; E Laverty 0-2; C McNaughton 0-1 ;E Leech 0-1; C Kearney 0-1; O Laverty 0-1; F Kelly 0-1; M McGarry 0-1f.
SCORERS FOR CLARE: S Canny 0-11 (9f); A Anderson 0-3; K O’Gorman 0-1f; R Kelly 0-1; A Walsh 0-1; S Loughnane 0-1 45.
ANTRIM: Á Graham; M McLarnon, E Kearns, E McShane; S Cosgrove, M McGarry, C Crawford; C Kearney, E Laverty; T O’Neill, Bríd Magill, C McNaughton; A McNeill, E Leech, D Cosgrove.
Subs: F Kelly for O’Neill (22); O Laverty for McNeill (41); N Devlin for Leech (41), E Trainor for Laverty (60); Bronagh Magill for S Cosgrove (60+2); A McNeill for Kearney (68); Lally for Trainor (h-t in e-t); O’Neill for Bríd Magill (74), C Hegarty for Crawford (75), Bríd Magill for Kelly (84); Crawford for Hegarty (87);
CLARE: L Solon; R Crowe, M Powell, S Hogg; R Powell, K O’Gorman, S O’Keeffe; R Kelly, A Walsh; G Carmody, E Casey, A Anderson; S Canny, N Mulqueen, O Phelan.
Subs: A Hickey for Mulqueen (37); S Lenihan for Carmody (45); F O’Brien for Phelan (51); S Loughnane for O’Gorman (59); C Lally for Crowe (f-t); Carmody for Anderson (h-t in e-t); O’Gorman for O’Brien (75); A Cooney for Canny (AET); R Conway for Carmody (84), Mulqueen for Casey (88), Canny for Hickey (90+2).
The Antrim team to face Clare in today’s Junior Camogie semi-final in Tullamore shows three changes from the side that scored a runaway win over Limerick in their last round robin game against at Corrigan Park. Fionnuala Kelly, Orlagh Laverty and Bronagh Magill, who played in that game are replaced by Emma Laverty, Claire Kearney and Sinead Cosgrove, all of who were unavailable for the Limerick game.
Clare is very much an unknown quantity for the Antrim girls and management as the sides have never met. Indeed Antrim were expecting to be playing Cavan in today’s game but Clare caused a bit of an upset when they piped the Breffni girls at the post in their last group game.
When Antrim entered a Junior team last year things did not go according to plan and they struggled badly, but this year has been much better and although well beaten by Armagh in the Ulster final they have fared well in their other games, including against Armagh in group stages where they ran the girls from the Orchard county to a single point in Dunloy.
Clare will no doubt provide a stern challenge, but they are in with a chance, and with the starting 15 backed up by a strong bench they can make it through to a Croke Park final in two weeks’ time.
Under 16
All Ireland Under 16B Championship
The Antrim Camogie conveyer belt continues to turn out talented young players and tomorrow (Sunday) in Collon Co Louth the Under 16 team take on Offaly in the All Ireland Under 16 B semi-final. These two counties have had great battles over the years in hurling and Camogie, and last season it took a replay before the Saffrons came out on top in the Minor B final.
The Antrim girls beat Derry in the Ulster final back in May and followed that up with wins over Westeath, Carlow and Derry again in the group stages. Offaly will be tough opponents but it they can maintain their good form Antrim can do the business yet again at the Mattock Rangers ground.
This year’s Ruairi Og Cul Camp was a big success once again as all those involved enjoyed the sunshine and the fun. There was a special visitor on Tuesday when Dáithí Mac Gabhann of Donate4Daithi fame called in to join in the fun. The whole camp was a sea of pink as the Ruairi Og club once again showed their tremendous support for the Donate4Daithi cause. Daithi was accompanied by his mum and dad and his little baby brother.
Overall another great event at the Ruairi Og Club. Sean Paul McKillop called in for the Saffron Gael to capture the action.
