| Kildare 3-16 Westmeath 3-4 |
Tuairisc:
After the postponement of their second round match against Carlow the previous weekend, the Kildare camogie team progressed their Junior A All Ireland Championship aspirations with what in the end was a comprehensive 3-16 to 3-4 win over Westmeath in Conleth’s Park on Saturday. The extent of the Kildare victory could not have been foreseen at half time as Kildare led by just the one point, having been asked some serious questions by a Westmeath side that looked as if it could pose serious problems in the second half.
The first half started with a flurry of scores from both sides, registering a score a minute for the first eight minutes. Kildare opened the scoring with a point from Susie O Carroll which was quickly answered by a Joanne Walsh point. Almost from the puck out a Kildare attack resulted in Kildare’s full forword Orla Mullalley latching on to the ball and finishing strongly to the net. Westmeath were again quick to reply , Joanne Walsh firing over her second point which was quickly matched by an O Carroll point from a forty five. Mary Murtagh stretched the Kildare lead with a point from play in the seventh minute but in the eight minute a ball bounced through the Kildare defence and was finished to the net by Denise Mc. Grath. After this initial burst of scoring there was a fallow period until the fifteenth minute when Kildare’s Ciara Tallon split the posts with a fine point. Murtagh and Loughlin exchanged points in the twenty third and twenty fourth minutes. However at this stage the Kildare defence were under serious pressure and having managed to clear a couple of dangerous situations a goalmouth scramble in the twenty sixth minute saw the ball eventually forced across the line by Pamella Greville to give Westmeath a one point lead. O Carroll restored parity with the score of the day, winning possession out around the midfield before taking off on a mazey run that took her through the Westmeath defence before finishing over the bar before again scoring another great point to finish the first half scoring , Kildare 1-7 to 2-3 in front.
After the tension of the first half the story of the second half is one of a Westmeath collapse as a rampant Kildare went on to rack up a string of unanswered points to leave the outcome beyond doubt well before the end. Westmeath’s ploy of playing a two player inside forward line for the first fifteen minutes of the half seemed to backfire as play opened up and seemed to hand the initiative to the Kildare forwards who seizes the opportunity with devastating effect. O Carroll ( 0-3), Siobhan Hurley, (0-2), Roisin O Connell, Orla Mullalley, Mary Murtagh and Clodagh Farrell all contributed points while Aisling Maher took a deft pass from Mary Murtagh and finished to the net. Meanwhile the Kildare defence tightened up and reduced Westmeath’s response to all this to a single point from a free from Loughlin in the ninth minute. Westmeath did get a consolation goal when a Loughlin forty five dipped under the Kildare bar in the twenty eight minute but it was a case of too little too late as O Carroll went on to finish the scoring with her seventh point of the day. Manager Tom O Mahoney expressed himself well satisfied with the outcome.’’ We were a bit worried that after the postponement of last weeks match we might have lost a bit of momentum and the first half was very tight but after half time the game opened up and we began to come to life. It was a very good team performance overall and I was very pleased that eight of our players got on the score sheet. With two tough matches played and won we are very much on track to reach the business end of this competition which has been our target all year.’’
Kildare’s next opponents are London who could be the ‘’dark horse’’ of the competition. That match is scheduled for next Saturday , 10th July in St. Laurence’s pitch, Oldgrange at a time to be arranged.
Kildare Kildare Kildare, Brid Byrnes, Niamh Breen ( Capt.) , Regina Gorman, Niamh Concannon, Gillian O Hurley, Carol Nolan, Aoife Trant, , Clare Doran , Aisling Maher, Mary Murtagh, Ciara Tallon, Susie O Carroll, Roisin O Connell, Orla Mullally, Lorraine Bowes, Siobhan Hurley, Clodagh Farrell, Tanya Johnson, Clodagh Flanagan, Louise Walsh.
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