Ulster Colleges sides hoping home advantage can pull them through
All-Ireland Colleges’ Senior A camogie Semi-Finals :
Saturday 15 th February
Ballinsacreen 12pm : St Mary’s Magherafelt v St Flannan’s Ennis
Portumna CS v Presentation Kilkenny
Ending St Patrick’s Maghera’s four year reign as Ulster Senior camogie champions was a huge barrier for St Mary’s Magherafelt to break through just before Christmas.
The manner of their victory was impressive as well in that they dominated the fixture and had built up a 2-9 to 1-3 lead going into the last quarter.
It was also achieved with seven members of their Junior team in the starting line-out – a team that would collect the under 16 title a week later.
But just as impressive was the breakthrough of St Flannan’s Ennis in Munster, a school that only admitted girls for the first time less than a dozen years ago.
Their camogie stock has been rising recently and they lost the provincial final two years ago in a replay.
However just a month ago they made no mistake with a 4-9 to 0-8 win over Laurel Hill Limerick and were a powerful presence throughout the pitch.
Early goals from Aoibheann Malone and Orla Devitt set them up for an interval lead of 2-8 to 0-5 and they remained in control throughout the second half.
Players such as Nikki Kaiser and Malone stood out up front, Louise Browne, Sinead Quinn, Claire McMahon and Chloe McAleer worked very hard, while there goalie Aoife Keane looked very comfortable.
Áine McAllister was the stand out player for Magherafelt in their derby final, but it was the overall performance that impressed, with a lot of pace throughout the field and plenty of space created for the forward line.
Most of these girls have played at home and away in All-Ireland Junior semi-finals in the past couple of years and are very experienced in that respect. But they are still a young side and very much on the learning curve.
Both Maghera and St Mary’s have reached finals at this level regularly over the past decade, so they will not lack confidence going into the game.
Home advantage will stand to them of course, but they will need to get a good foothold in the game early on, as they did in the Ulster final, to get the home support really behind them. If they do, Ennis might find out that it is a long way from Clare to here.
All-Ireland Colleges’ Senior B Camogie Semi-Finals :
Saturday 15 th February
Armoy, 1pm : St Killian’s GarronTower v Our Lady’s Templemore
St Calasanctus, Oranmore v Loreto, Wexford
It has become more regular in recent years for Ulster Colleges’ camogie champions to win All-Ireland semi-finals. Teams now genuinely believe that they can beat schools from other provinces – particularly if a previous school team has already reached the final.
In 2009, the then St MacNissi’s College Garron Tower were shock winners of the Fr Davies’ Cup and they went on to contest their first All-Ireland senior decider going down by just 4 points in the final.
Their successors under the St Killian’s College name firmly believe that they can copy that achievement, with Cushendall pitch giving them an advantage against Munster champions Our Lady’s Templemore (1pm throw-in).
However it is more than three months since they won the provincial crown with a 2-5 to 1-4 victory over St Pius X Magherafelt in Ballymena back during the Halloween break.
By contrast opponents Templemore only took the Munster title on the last weekend of January. The Tipperary side was taken to a replay in the final by Christ the KingCollege from Douglas.
The Cork side led 0-6 to 0-4 with just 14 minutes left in the replay. Templemore then switched centre-forward Niamh Tracey to full-forward and she was involved in all 1-7 that followed for her side to give them a rather flattering 1-11 to 0-6 victory.
Niamh is one of four players who were on the Tipperary under 16 side last year that won the All-Ireland title. Her team-mates then and now are Kate Cashman, Miriam Campion and Elaine Fitzgerald. Tracey though was the Player of the Match for Tipp in that All-Ireland final.
She would appear to offer a huge threat to the Tower’s hopes, but the Ulster champions have put in a serious amount of work since Christmas.
11 Cushendall club players started the Ulster final, including three sets of sisters – Siobhán and Clodagh McKillop, Sarah and Mary Kane and Sinead and Dervla Cosgrove – and two more club-mates came in as subs.
However St John’s Carnlough and Brídíní Óga Glenravel both have a significant presence on the team, although Dara Martin who damaged her ankle and knee ligaments scoring the opening goal against St Pius X is a non-starter as she only returned to training this week.
The team ethic however has been their strength all along and that unity can be hard to breakdown, particularly if they manage to get a decent start in front of home support.
They should give it a real go.
St Killians who won the Fr Davies Cup before Christmas
Saturday 15 th February
All-Ireland Colleges’ Senior C Camogie Semi-Finals:
Castlewellan, 1pm : Assumption Ballynahinch v St Joseph’s Doon
Senior D Semi-Final
Mayobridge 2pm : Our Lady’s Newry v Glanmire CS Cork
Two Down schools will host Munster opposition in All-Ireland semi-finals this SATURDAY.
Assumption Ballynahinch were impressive in winning the Senior Medallion Shield final in November and they will host St Joseph’s Doon from Clare in Castlewellan.
The visitors won the All-Ireland title at a lower grade last year and took Munster by storm this year, eventually collecting the title at the end of January on a 1-8 to 0-8 score-line against Carrick-on-Suir.
They are part of the changing face of schools’ camogie in Munster with Clare schools now contesting finals and winning at all grades.
However Ballynahinch are a useful enough team themselves and three of them – Aoife Keown, Aimee McAleenan and Colleen Clarke – impressed the Ulster Colleges’ All-star selectors shortly after that provincial success.
All three are already in the county Senior panel and Aimee helped her club Liatroim Fontenoys regain the Ulster title in October.
The Fontenoys lost their All-Ireland semi just last Sunday by a goal margin with Aimee firing in 1-2.
St Joseph’s though are a pretty confident side by now and the Down girls will need to get an early grip of the game. If they do, then their three All-stars can rack up enough scores to keep them in the running for the title.
Our Lady’s Newry had to really battle to deny St Mary’s Clady the Rosina McManus Shield and those qualities will be called on once more when they face Cork school Glanmire CS in the All-Ireland semi-final.
While it is difficult to measure teams from different provinces against each at this level, the fact that Glanmire scored an impressive 2-14 in difficult underfoot conditions a month ago to win their first Munster title suggests that they would have a head start on Our Lady’s, who scored just 2-2 in their final.
Nevertheless the Newry school’s defence was pretty good that day and perhaps if they can keep the scores out at one end, Ciara Tinnelly, Aoibheann McCarthy and Niamh McCrickard might just get enough at the other.
