St Raphael’s end long wait for All-Ireland camogie title
St. Raphael’s, Loughrea 3-6
St. Mary’s, New Ross 1-9
By Eanna O’Reilly in Abbeyleix
ST Raphael’s College secured the All-Ireland Senior B Colleges camogie title on Saturday in Abbeyleix after overcoming St. Mary’s New Ross in a compelling contest. The Loughrea school were deserving winners as they demonstrated superior quality in attack, and impressive composure in defence, particularly in the dying minutes as their opponents attempted to engineer a goal.
A whirlwind start to the game saw St. Raphael’s lead by 2-0 to 1-0 after six minutes. The Wexford school made the perfect start when full forward Ava Dunphy rattled the net after three minutes. The next attack saw Leah Behan get onto a ball from Clodagh O’Meara, before blasting St. Raphael’s opening goal to level the contest.
Two minutes later Emily Lawless gained possession in the left corner, before a pacey run took her inside the New Ross full back line. The Shamrocks forward then fired a superb shot to the top corner of the net to make it 2-0 to 1-0.
Lawless and Behan then combined for the Davitts’ forward to score Raphael’s opening point. New Ross midfielder Seana Davis then pointed two frees at the other end to keep the Wexford school in touch.
Both full forward lines looked extremely dangerous in the first half. St. Raphael’s ‘keeper Ciara McClearn was called upon to make two good saves in the opening quarter of the game. Shamrocks’ centre forward Leah O’Halloran impressively pointed a 70-yard free to make it 2-2 to 1-2 in the 16th minute.
Davis converted her third free for New Ross shortly after, before Caitlin Griffin added a point for Raphael’s, after a good crossfield ball from Lawless. The Wexford school finished the first half strongly, with the last two scores coming from Davis (free), and Grace Glennon. It left the Loughrea girls ahead at the interval by 2-3 to 1-5.
Pictured: Caitlin Griffin of St Raphael's College, Loughrea on the attack against St Mary's of New Ross during Saturday's All-Ireland Colleges Senior B Camogie Final in Abbeyleix. Photo: Paul Dargan.