Carlow have too much Kildare in Camogie Championship

Carlow 2-16

Kildare 0-12

Kildare’s patchy performance was not good enough to see off Carlow when the two sides locked horns in Saturday’s All-Ireland Intermediate Camogie Championship in Manguard Park, Hawkfield.

With both teams having suffered heavy losses in their respective Group Two openers last month, the stakes were high coming into last weekend’s encounter, at the end of which, it was Kildare who were left rooted to the bottom of the table, as goals in each half by Aimie Nolan and Eibhe Lawler helped see Carlow get up and running.

It was the visitors who drew first blood on Saturday after Eleanor Treacy despatched a 45 before Nolan followed that up with a fine point.

Kildare, however, fought back on to level terms when Caoimhe Ní Bhuirceal both won and converted a free for the first of her seven points on the day, after which Rebecca Duffy also got on the score sheet.

Yet David O’Mahoney’s side would go the next nine minutes without a score, while shipping a further 1-4 as Ciara Kavanagh nudged the visitors back in front before Lawler and Sarah Sheehan also tagged on points.

The latter went close to the opening goal of the game, but her 10 th -minute attempt was batted clear by Kildare goalkeeper, Ellen Donovan.

Nolan, however, delivered the goal Carlow had been threatening after she won the battle for a loose ball and raced 40 meters in before unleashing a superb strike to the net on the quarter-hour mark after which Kavanagh landed another fine point.

Kildare finally got going again when Duffy and Hannah Davis combined to set up Ní Bhuirceal, whose attempt on goal was pushed over the bar by Carlow netminder, Catherine Kavanagh on 17 minutes.

It signalled the start of mini surge by the hosts as further points from Ní Bhuirceal, Meabh Maguire and Davis hauled them back to within three off their opponents.

But Carlow responded with the next four points, compliments of Holly Wall, Nolan, Caoimhe Jordan and Eve Sinnott to stretch their lead back out to seven.

And, while Ní Bhuirceal again stopped the rot with a much-needed free, both Jordan and Sinnott ensured that it was Carlow who finished the half stronger with two points to help see them take a 0-7 to 1-12 advantage into the break.

Torrential rain
The rain that had started up again just before the recess, turned torrential at the outset of the second half, but it looked as if Kildare were handling the difficult conditions better, as they hit three quick points through Ní Bhuirceal, Niamh Krahn and Davis in response to Treacy’s early free for Carlow.

But any prospect of a Kildare revival was punctured soon after when Lawler dug out possession from a scramble just beyond the Kildare goalmouth and sent her strike to the net.

Kildare continued to battle, but the scores had pretty much dried up, as Carlow accounted for the game’s closing three points when Kavanagh, Wall and Lawler all fired over.

While disappointed at seeing his side again left empty-handed, Kildare manager David O’Mahoney is expecting another huge effort from his players when they face group leaders, Kerry this Saturday.

“It’s another championship game. For a lot of these girls, it’s their first time playing adult inter-county camogie with Kildare, so it’s another great opportunity to go out and perform” he insisted.

“We’ve had a lot of injuries to key players coming into these games, but the girls step up and just keep ploughing on.

“It’s about making progress. I think an awful lot of the girls from the early stage in the league have made a lot of progress, but it’s just unfortunate that we haven’t got the results to back it up” he said.

Scorers: Carlow: Aimie Nolan (1-2), Eibhe Lawler (1-2), Ciara Kavanagh (0-3), Eleanor Treacy (0-2) (0-1 45; 0-1 f), Holly Wall (0-2), Caoimhe Jordan (0-2), Eve Sinnott (0-2), Sarah Sheehan (0-1).

Kildare: Caoimhe Ní Bhuirceal (0-7) (0-3f), Hannah Davis (0-2), Rebecca Duffy (0-1), Meabh Maguire (0-1), Niamh Krahn (0-1).

CARLOW: Catherine Kavanagh, Gillian Doyle, Rachel Breen, Niamh Canavan, Kate Doyle, Michelle Nolan, Mairead O’Shea, Eleanor Treacy, Aimie Nolan, Sarah Sheehan, Ciara Kavanagh, Caoimhe Jordan, Holly Wall, Eve Sinnott, Eibhe Lawler. Subs: Aibha Kiernan for Kate Doyle & Niamh Minchin for Sheehan (53 minutes).

KILDARE: Ellen Donovan, Aisling Connaughton, Caoimhe O’Sullivan, Sinead O’Brien, Niamh Krahn, Shauna Mulligan, Aoife Newman, Hannah Davis, Sadhbh Buckley, Laura Edwards, Louise Murphy, Rebecca Duffy, Meabh Maguire, Róisín Maguire, Caoimhe Ní Bhuirceal. Subs: Rianna Cribbin for Buckley (38 minutes), Saoirse Coffey for Newman (42 minutes) and Liana Glynn for Edwards (55 minutes).

Referee: Donnacha O’Callaghan

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