News & Events

U12 Camogie County Final - Friday 12th Sept 2008 -  Nenagh 4-5 Annacarthy 0-1

Last Friday was another great evening for our club when our U/12 team won their County Final in Drom. Despite all the changing of the game(3 times in 2 days) and the long wait(11 weeks since our semi final) a huge crowd turned out from Nenagh and surrounding areas to support this very talented team. This was a game Nenagh were never going to lose even before they stepped out on to the pitch, the commitment, focus and will to win was there for all to see.

The game started with Alana Morris winning the throw in and that’s the way her match went as any ball that came near her she won and drove it back down to our forwards. With Alana and Paula Ryan dominating at mid field there was a constant supply of ball going in to our forwards. A few minutes in after great work by Aine Long and Alison McGrath the ball broke to the impressive Colleen O’Brien who crashed home our first goal. Our girls were on top and were unlucky to not be more in front as there goalie made some good stops from Taylor Murphy and Mairead Sheridan. Our backs who gave nothing away all night were put under a bit of pressure but the outstanding Rachel Maher who was marking their danger girl kept snuffing out the danger and driving the ball out. Niamh Ryan and Mary McKenna made some vital clearances during this period but Annacarthy did manage to score a point from a free. From Sarah Quigley’s long puck out the ball broke to Colleen who went on one of her strong runs and sent in a lovely ball to Holly O’Brien who turned quick and scored a lovely point. Another followed soon after when Alana cleverly stayed out of a ruck and put the breaking ball over the bar. This was just reward for her dominating display and was unlucky not to have scored more. Another Annacarthy attack was cleared by Zoey Gratton, another who has matured in to a very good camogie player and one Tipp selectors of the future will be looking at. Just close to half time, Nenagh again camped down in the Annacarthy 21, and this time the ball was passed to Colleen who drilled home a great goal. Half time Nenagh 2-2 Annacarthy 0-1

The 2nd half started the same as the first with Alana winning the throw and starting a Nenagh attack. She really played a Captains role in keeping her team going as they tired in the second half. In this half our centre back line of Amy Heffernan, Rachel and Roisin Starr really got on top and really kept the pressure off our full back line. Rachel running out at full speed, taking the sliothar and driving it back down the field was a joy to watch. Kara Ryan Mulqueen replacing a tired Alison at full forward and she started the same as Ali finished, chasing and putting pressure on the full back at all times. This was the type of pressure that led to our third goal, which Holly smashed home after great chasing by Kara and Maireid. Elaine Slattery and Michelle Collins came on to replace Taylor and Niamh and they got straight in to pace of the game working as hard as the girls they replaced. Annacarthy tried hard to come back but Rachel and Zoey kept all the girls on their toes to make sure no mores scores were conceded. More strong work by Rachel and Alana got the ball to Aine Long who was playing her best game of the year, who in turn fed our chief scorer Colleen to rattle home her third and our fourth of the game. Sarah O’Connor replaced the hard working but exhausted Mairead and Cliona replaced the very dependable Roisin to add fresh legs in the middle of the field. We missed a few chances near the end with Elaine, Kara and Aine unlucky not to get on the score sheet. Another fine clearance from Rachel to Alana is where the game ended and allowed our huge following to rush on and congratulate our newest County Champions. County Chairman Lar O’Brien and David Greene who sponsored the u/12 competition presented the plaque to our outstanding Captain Alana Morris. Final Score Nenagh 4-2 Annacarthy 0-1

Team: S Quigley, M McKenna, Z Gratton, N Ryan, A Heffernan, R Maher, R Starr, A Morris(C), P Ryan, C O’Brien, A Long, M Sheridan, H O’Brien, A McGrath, T Murphy. Subs: K Ryan Mulqueen, E Slattery, M Collins, S O’Connor, C Curran, L Darcy, G O’Brien, L Kennedy, C Ryan, A Dillon, R Spillane, A Hallinan, L O’Kelly, R Moyles and M Spillane.

This is our 2nd County Final win this year and a lot of credit must go to the Club, the committee and the trainers and coaches for the way the Club is now heading in the right direction. Martin Ryan and Liam McGrath have put in huge work with these girls helped by Denise Morris, Louise Ryan and Mike Ryan. This was not a easy year for the management team and these girls but hopefully this result might help. The 11 week wait put us at a disadvantage but due to the hard work and matches in training and some challenge games, the girls were raring to go right from the off. There is a big panel with lots of U/10s who got great experience of what it takes to win a County Final and all of these girls will hopefully win one while there on the pitch in the near future. We have to say a huge thanks to everyone who came and supported us on the night. It really lifted all the girls to see so many familiar faces in the crowd shouting them on.

We want to thank Careys Glass, Paddy Hoare, Rocky Sullivan and David Fitzgerald Contractors who sponsored the team for the final. Once again Pat, Louise and Tom had everything spot on for the girls. We thank Collins Bakery for their lovely cake. We would like to thank all the parents for their help and patience and hope the smile on the children’s faces at the end was just reward for a very long hard year. After our noisy parade around the town, it was back to the Hi-B for a celebration. A huge thanks to Jane, Martin, Denise and all the staff of the Hi-B for looking after the children and adults so well despite the numbers being a lot more than we predicated. We are now in the B League which will be taking place soon and who knows it might not be the end of the silverware yet.