Navan O’Mahonys camogs battled hard but Knockanna took their third Leinster Junior in a row with a five point victory.
A great battle and great determination was shown by Navan O’Mahony’s Camogs when they travelled to Carlow on Sun 10th November to play in the Junior Club Championship Leinster Final in front of a large crowd of supporters from both sides.
This was a big occasion for the Navan side meeting a well experienced team, Knockananna from Wicklow who were already familiar with Leinster titles.
The Wicklow side started well with a point from a free opening their tally. A fast paced game with Knockanna pushing forward led to an early goal followed by another converted free around the 10 minute mark before O’Mahony’s registered a score. The opening score for O’Mahony’s came from the impressive Jorja Keogh, a well taken point from play. Knockananna kept the pressure on with persistent runs and overlaps adding another point.
As the nerves started to settle the game started to flow and the full forward line of Ailbhe Leahy, Lauren Woods and Captain Lizzy Brennan started to exert some pressure on the Knockananna defence. This spell resulted in a free for O’Mahony’s duly converted by Laoise Mc Dermott. The Wicklow side responded immediately with another point from play before Brennan converted a free keeping the scoreboard ticking over.
Unfortunately for O’Mahonys an injury to Brennan , Captain of this young team saw her leave the field at the end of the first quarter when she was replaced by Aoibhin Kielty who stepped up to the occasion.
The Wicklow side continued their probing runs and on the 20 minute hit to the net again. A free was easily converted followed by another point from play stretched the Wicklow lead leaving 9 points between the sides. The full back line of Megan Kinsella , Soairse O Regan and Alannah Brady were kept under pressure to clear their lines.
But O’Mahonys kept the heads up and worked relentlessly across the pitch and were rewarded for their efforts with a goal from Lauren Woods, a well taken point from Isabel O Connor and a 45’ converted by the steady hand of Mc Dermott reducing the margin to four . A converted free at the other end and a second free that went wide but subsequently led to a converted 45’ brought the margin back to 6 at the half time whistle with a scoreline of 1.05 to 2.08 in favour of Wicklow.
It was Navan O’Mahony’s who opened the scoring in the second half with a converted free from Mc Dermott who was having a positive influence on the game. The half back of line of Tara Fay , Rebecca Coen and Doireann Mellett put in a really strong shift against a very fast and strong Wicklow half forward line. Knockananna converted another free keeping the gap at 6 before O’Mahony’s lost key player Mc Dermott through an injury . There were some strong attacking spells for O’Mahonys led by O Connor and Keogh. In the 16th minute Keogh went on a probing run resulting in a free which she duly converted from a difficult angle. The Navan side gained a bit of momentum and following a few attempts at goal the net was eventually rattled from Woods taking her second goal of the game, bringing it back to a 2 point margin.
A window of opportunity opened up for the Meath Champions but try as they did to keep the pressure on the experience of the Wicklow side showed through and they defended every effort going forward. With 3 points in succession, 2 from play and one a converted free Knockananna stretched the margin back to 5
Keogh stepped up and converted another free bringing it back to 4 but the final score of the game was a point to Knockananna leaving it 2.13 to 2.08 at the final whistle. A very proud day for Donal Hogan and his squad of 26 who represented Meath with pride today in a Leinster final. The future is bright for adult camogie in Navan O’Mahony’s with 2 county titles this year Intermediate and Junior B and plenty of underage titles too.
The club can look forward to many more days out in future
Mags Tomkins Megan Kinsella, Saoirse O Regan , Alannah Brady, Caoimhe Mc Kenna , Tara Fay, Rebecca Coen, Laoise Mc Dermott, Roisin Tobin, Jorja Keogh , Isabel O Connor, Izzy Kinsella, Lizzy Brennan, Lauren Woods, Ailbhe Leahy
Subs Doireann Mellett for Mc Kenna , Aoibhin Kielty for Brennan, Anna Gardiner for Kinsella M, Claire Mallon for Mc Dermott, Lily Dwyer for Kinsella I, Annie Hogan for Tobin , Cara Ratty , Amanda Feeney, Lauren Patterson, Aoibhin Mc Kenny, Eva Stewart
