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U-14 camogie girls win the championship!

U-14 camogie girls win the championship!

Posted November 3, 2014

The highlight of the juvenile camogie weekend were our U-14 capturing the championship against Castleknock.

Having come through a tough semi final against St Brigids, last Saturday the Naomh Mearnóg girls lined out for the final of the u14 championship. The opponents were Castleknock who had beaten us in both the Feile semi final and the round robin phase of the championship so the team were under no illusions as to the scale of the challenge facing them.

Having won the toss, Naomh Mearnóg captain Amy Kavanagh elected to play with the strong breeze in the first half. This proved to be a great decision as the Naomh Mearnóg girls quickly built a formidable lead thanks to excellent scores from Ciara Holland, Emma Kelly, Megan O’Connor and Hannah Collins. At the same time, the defence, expertly marshalled by Orlaith Freaney, managed to keep the much vaunted Castleknock attack scoreless for the entire first half. With further scores from Leah McElroy, and Ciara Holland, the home team went into the second half with a 2-5 to no score lead.

The second half began with Castleknock determined to make inroads into the Mearnóg lead who were now playing into the stiff breeze. Tireless running at centrefield from Claire McGowan helped to stem the tide but a couple of goals from the Castleknock talisman Ciara Murray led to some nervous times on the sideline. However, the Mearnog team steadied the ship and some crucial points from the forwards allowed the team to keep their cushion and the game finished with a famous victory for the Mearnog team on a scoreline of 2-8 to 3-2.

All of the squad from 1 to 21 played their part in this victory and can be very proud of their efforts throughout the year. Special mention must go to Ciara Holland who won the player of the match award.

u-14-winners

U-15’s:
For what was billed as the last important game of the season this certainly turned out to be a game full of drama. Results between these sides over the years have usually been close and hard to predict. The Mearnóg girls were slow to settle but grafted hard in the first half. Scores were hard to come by but with some near misses on both sides. Crokes with better teamwork converted their chances better and went in at the half time break 2-3 to 0-2 with what looked like a fairly comfortable lead and a strong team performance.

The second half saw a complete turnover in performance from Mearnóg with Claire McGowan, Aoife Dalton and Sarah Brennan soon crashing in goals to the Crokes’ net. With a very even battle around midfield, scores were hard to come by; at one stage near the end the girls were one point ahead but Crokes soon equalised with a close in free. In the final minutes the Mearnóg defenders had to sustain tremendous pressure but held out in the end ensure a rematch.

The final score Naomh Mearnóg 4-03; Kilmacud Crokes 2-09.

U11’s:
The U11 camogie girls travelled to Naomh Peregrines on Sunday morning, fielding two teams, Blue and Red.

The Red team from the throw in got stuck in tearing around the pitch after every ball. By half-time the girls were ahead 4-1 to 2-1. In the second half there was no sitting back with the lead as they powered ahead and scored another 6 goals and 3 points. The game finished Mearnóg 10-4 to 4-1. This was a super team performance where the skill levels and the commitment of the girls was a joy to watch. Special praise to Sarah Tighe who just back from a hand injury was superb in full back.

The Blue Team showed no ill affects from ‘trick or treating’ on Friday. They played like their lives depended on it running after every ball and tackling superbly. This team defended really well as Peregrines failed to register a score and the forwards and mid-field were on fire scoring 6 goals and 3 points. There were plenty of Parents who made the journey and supporters and coaches were immensely proud of both teams performances.

This was the final league game and we’re looking forward to the gala blitz next weekend which the Red Team will host at home and the Blue Team going to Na Fianna.

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