*Laura Foley leads the celebrations. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
TRUAGH/CLONLARA are Munster club senior camogie champions for the first time after edging a titanic tussle with Gailltir in a replay which was decided by sudden death.
Truagh Clonlara 4.12
Gailltir 3.15
AET
(Truagh/Clonlara win 0-9 0-8 in 45m free competition)
Venue: Moycarkey Borris GAA, Tipperary
By Anne Marie McGann
As we edge closer to election day, they say a week is a long time in politics, but even longer for this year’s Munster Senior Camogie Finalists, Truagh/Clonlara and Gailltir having had to play a 90-minute replay followed by 45s. However, this time round, it was Truagh/Clonlara’s manifesto that trumped their sturdy Waterford opponents.
Having nine fingers on the Thomais Mhic Dhonnacha Cup on the first day out ultimately proved the difference in the sides in the first half. Truagh/Clonlara rectified their slow start in exquisite fashion with Eimear Kelly blasting the ball to the back of the net within the opening minute of the game.
Áine O’Loughlin followed with two frees to leave Truagh/Clonlara leading a header game 1-2 to 0-0. It took nearly eight minutes for Laoise Forrest to get Gailltir on the scoreboard. Taking up the centre forward position this week she proved to be a handful throughout the game and if Gailltir were to have won she was sure to claim the Player of the Match.
Gailltir were living off scraps for the first ten minutes of the game where Emma Fitzgerald slotted over their second free at the ten-minute mark. It only took two minutes for Aine O’Loughlin to respond. A ball into Eimear Kelly just went over her head and into the path of the Gailltir defenders. But there was no letting up as Becky Foley put in a massive block to reduce the ball to the affectionately known Lough Locky to bury to the net.
Molly Comerford came more into the game supplying ball to the full forward line but Sophie Cullen was up to the task. The ball was cleared out to Aine O’Loughlin, but she failed to capitalise on the scoreboard. Andy Larkin came in for some stiff criticism last week for letting play go but it has to be said that Limerick’s Donnacha O’Callaghan contributed hugely to a war of attrition. On the nineteenth minute Ellen Horgan was adjudged to have charged out into the Gailltir player resulting in a free for Laoise Forrest which signaled the beginning of the comeback.
On the twentieth minute Eimear Kelly slotted over another point for Truagh/Clonlara. The ploy of leaving Kelly inside for stretches in the game proved decisive as O’Loughlin gathered ball around the middle of the field and supplied duly to her fellow county star.
Having been seven points down at different stages in the first half for Gailltir it was now or never for some resurrection to occur. Comeford was the star of last week’s show and her goal poaching abilities were soon put to the test. Laoise Forest was the powerhouse for Gailltir in the forward line passing ball off to Mollie who duly blasted to the net with three minutes remaining.
Three minutes of injury were signalled but neither side were able to put scores on the board.
Truagh Clonlara 2-4, Gailtir 1-4. It could be said that half time came at the wrong time for Gailltir as Truagh/Clonlara went into slight defence mode. At several stages towards the latter end of the half Truagh only had one player within their own 45 metre line. Luckily, Gailtir weren’t at least level or ahead.
It was tit for tat in the early stages of the second half. A poor puck out for Truagh/Clonlara was returned with interest over the bar by Comeford in the first two minutes. Eimear Kelly slotted over to keep it at a one score game 2-5 to 1-5 after a wonderful sideline cut from O’Loughlin.
In the following ten minutes four frees in succession were awarded to Gailtir with Emma Fitzgerald slotting them over to put Gailtir one ahead. What followed could only be described as three minutes of pandemonium. Hooks, blocks, frees and tackles on managements all ensued.
Close to the forty minutes O’Loughlin pointed following a swift pass from Ellen Horgan, the sides level 2-6 1-9. Play went up and down the field with neither side being able to capitalise on scoring opportunities. On the fifty third minute Annie Fitzgerald was adjudged to have dived, Louise Egan gathered the ball and was ultimately tripped as she headed for the sideline.
Becky Foley proved her strength and capabilities were on form when she struck Truagh in front on the fifty seventh minute having dropped one agonisingly short a minute earlier. The drama wasn’t over there. In a case of deja vu six minutes injury time was signalled. Surely it couldn’t happen all over again.
It was in the sixty fifth minute Gailltir’s Emma Fitzgerald produced the equaliser. The never say die attitude of Truagh/Clonlara shone through when up stepped Eimear Kelly to point the way home. It took however a 66th minute equaliser again from Emma Fitzgerald after the Truagh/Clonlara defence was adjudged to have over carried.
What could be described as a game for the ages extra time would dawn a goal fest endeavour. Immediately on the restart of extra time, the Fitz’s combined (Emma and Aoife) for the latter to fire to the net. You couldn’t blink with the physicality, tenacity and unwavering desire to win every ball. But Truagh duly responded though an Eimear Kelly goal. It didn’t stop there however, as two further goals followed. A slip by Michelle Powell, at the vital juncture would see Emma Fitz get an all-important goal. Aine O Loughlin would soon cancel that out one minute later with a bullet. The sides stood at Truagh Clonlara 4-8 Gailtir 3-11 midway through the first half of extra time. It was as if nobody wanted to give an inch but it was Emma Fitzgerald that finished the half with a free 4-8 to 3-12.
A nervy start to the second half of extra time saw Becky Foley’s chance steer wide to give Gailltir still the one-point advantage. Emma Fitzgerald had a chance to put two between the sides but opted to take a short free. Lucky for her Aoife Fitzgerald managed to gain possession and split the posts. Aine O’Loughlin replied with a free 30 metres out from the goal to bring it back to the minimum. Momentum began to follow for Truagh. Laura Foley delivered a ball deep from her own half to Eimear Kelly who roofed it in towards O’Loughlin. We all know what happened then, a clean catch from the clouds and she buried it to the net. A delay in the umpires raising the green flag and protests from the Gailltir players led the referee O Callaghan to award a free out for a square ball. With the second minute of injury time in extra time, Begley was blatantly pushed over and up steps O’Loughlin who did the needful, Truagh Clonlara 4-10, Gailltir 3-13. And so extra extra time beckoned.
Between the cold seats of the stand in Moycarkey Borris and the need to warm the frost bitten feet spectators refused to move around in what was a nail biting affair. At the restart Becky Foley was to the fore, grasping a high ball delivered from her sister and putting it between the posts. Foley further assisted her teammate Eimear Kelly by pulling off one of her outstanding trademark ground blocks to trickle the ball in the direction of Eimear Kelly to cooly slot over. Things were looking up for Truagh.
It wasn’t over there though. Grit, determination and master plays were the telling factors in a game that saw Gailltir masterfully gain two further frees to tie the contest. Surely there couldn’t be more to come. The referee’s final whistle went to what was a standing ovation and rapturous applause from the crowd. The dreaded 45’s. Never had a Munster final been decided on such and after some debate it seemed that Gailltir wanted to finish things there and then.
After an agonising six day wait for this year’s winner, both teams served up an enticing battle. To the fore for all that was good in Truagh Clonlara’s display, nervy moments were never too far away for the penultimate winners, due to their ever-resilient opponents Gailltir. The game proved to be a classic “swings and roundabouts” match, filled with constant momentum shifts that kept supporters on the edge of their seats.
However, checkmate fell at the footsteps of the Truagh/Clonlara ‘Queens’ in the nothing but cruel 45ms scenario. Up steps Roisin Begley. Having missed her first chance, the heart rate must have been in overdrive. To stand over that 45 and so cooly slot it between the post to catapult Truagh/Clonlara to win their first Munster Senior Camogie title was something immense.
All photographs by Gerard O’Neill.
Scorers for Truagh Clonlara: Eimear Kelly (2xG, 4xP), Becky Foley (P), Aine O’ Loughlin, (2xG, 5xF, P), Joanne Egan (P).
Scorers for Gailltir: Annie Fitzgerald (P), Aoife Fitzgerald (G,P), Mollie (G,P), Laoise Forrest (F,F), Emma Fitzgerald (G, 9xF), Ciara Sherlock (P)
Truagh Clonlara:
1: Sophie Cullen
19: Sinead Ryan
3: Michelle Powell
4: Sinead Hogg
5: Ellen Horgan (C)
6: Laura Foley (C)
7: Louise Egan
8: Emer Begley
9: Eimear Kelly,
10: Aoibhin Marren
11: Joanne Egan,
12: Hannah Horgan
13: Roisin Begley;
18: Rebecca Foley,
15: Áine O’Loughlin.
Subs:
20: Niamh Ryan for L Egan (37),
14: Leah Hawes for Niamh Ryan (71 min)
Gailltir:
1: Noelle Murphy;
2: Faye Murphy,
3: Maria Brennan (C),
4: Maeve Sheridan;
5: Shauna Fitzgerald,
8: Clodagh Carroll,
7: Aoife Hartley;
9: Kate Lynch,
15: Ciara Sherlock;
12: Anne Corcoran,
6: Laoise Forrest,
14: Molly Comerford;
10: Alannah O’Sullivan,
11: Annie Fitzgerald,
13: Emma Fitzgerald.
Subs:
18: Hannah Flynn for Hartley (HT)
22: Ciara O Sullivan for Sheridan (HT),
17: Aoife Fitzgerald for Corcoran (57)
12: Anne Corcoran for C O’Sullivan (86)
Referee: Donnacha O Callaghan (Limerick)
