It was another busy weekend in the Senior A, B and Intermediate camogie championships. In the Senior A competition, Carnmore and St Thomas recorded their first victories of the championship while Athenry and Sarsfields continued their unbeaten run. In the Senior B contest, Kinvara and Shamrocks had to split the spoils while Mountbellew recorded their first win in the seniors ranks. There were also wins for Clarinbridge and Castlegar. Finally in the Intermediate championship, there were victories for Ahascragh Caltra, Killimor and St Colmans while Cappataggle and Abbeyknockmoy had to share the points.
Senior A
St Thomas 0-10 Ardrahan 0-8
St Thomas recorded their first win at Senior A level as they overcame old rivals Ardrahan in extremely wet and testing conditions in Kilbeacanty on Saturday. Áine Keane and Abbie Massey kicked off the scoring for St Thomas’ in the 2nd and 3rd minutes. Ava Connolly followed up two minutes later with her side's opening score. Massey and Keane through a free extended their lead to three by the midway point of the half. Kate Devereux through a free, replied for Ardrahan but St Thomas’ came back strongly with points through a Lorraine Coen point either side of two Keane frees. Aisling Dolphin had the final say of the half with a point for Ardrahan as Thomas’ headed in 0-7 to 0-3 ahead at the break.
Scores from play were hard to come by as the conditions got even more testing. Both sides swapped scores with a free through Keane and a long range effort from Sarah Healy, while Caoimhe Lynskey pointed two frees for Ardrahan to still leave four between the sides by the 47th minute. Ardrahan brought it back to within one of St Thomas as Roisin Cahill, Rebecca Gardiner and Leanne Helebert all adding their names to the list; but Keane followed up with a free before the end of the game as St Thomas ran out two-point winners on the day.
Sarsfields 4-19 Mullagh 0-5
Sarsfields continued their winning streak on Sunday in Tynagh when as they overcome Mullagh comfortablly. 1-5 in the opening ten minutes from Siobhan McGrath 1-4 (0-2F ) and Niamh McGrath left Sarsfields in the driving seat. Rachel Monaghan pointed two frees for Mullagh either side of a point from Niamh McGrath, to register Mullagh’s first scores of the game. Two more from Niamh McGrath, one through a free and a point from Rachel Murray, helped in extending their lead to ten by the 23rd minute. Sarah Devane got her name on the score card on the 24th minute while Niamh McGrath and Tegan Canning swapped scores before the end of the half as Sarsfields went in 1-10 to 0-4 in front at the break.
Sarsfields came out of the blocks very hard in the second half, holding Mullagh to one point throughout the half. Mullagh found it hard to break them down as Sarsfields scored 3-9 without reply in the opening 23 minutes of the half with 2-4 from Siobhan McGrath (1-1F ), 0-3 from Niamh McGrath (0-2F ), 1-1 from Orlaith McGrath and 0-1 from Cora Kenny. Monaghan got her side's only score of the half on the 54th minute with a free but it was not enough as Sarsfields ran out victorious on the day.
Carnmore 2-18 Davitts 0-18
Carnmore recorded their first victory in the Windows and Roodlights LTD Senior A Championship as a strong second half preformance helped them in overcoming Davitts on Sunday afternoon. It was Davitts who got off the mark the quickest with a point from Leah Behan in the opening minute. Aoife Collins and Emily Brogan followed up for Carnmore to give them the lead by the fourth minute. Davitts hit a purple patch between the 5th and 8th minutes hitting 0-5 without reply through Catherine Hanley (0-2, 0-1F ) and 0-1 each from Claire Blake, Ciara Hickey and Cara O’Brien (0-1F ). Fahy and Hanley swapped frees on the 11th and 14th minutes while Brogan and Jennifer Hughes followed up with two more points to reduce their deficit to one. Blake hit two more points for Davitts but two more Fahy frees and a point from Aoife Collins left the minimum between the sides on the Hickey and Aisling Donnellan pointed two before the end of the half while Brogan added one to her tally as Davitts went in 0-11 to 0-9 in front at half time.
Carnmore started well out of the blocks in the second half with Rachel Hughes pointing in the opening minute. Claire Blake kept the two between the sides on the 32nd minute but the Hughes sisters, Jennifer and Rachel, Niamh Fox and Fahy (0-2 ) put Carnmore into the lead for the second time in the game by the 42nd minute, a lead they would never relenquish. Hanley replied with a free on the midway point of the half but 1-1 through Fox in the space of a miniute meant that there was six between the sides with 13 minutes of normal time remaining. Hickey hit back a minute later for Davitts but Fahy replied with two more, one through a free to extended Carnmore’s lead. Davitts did try to produce a late come back with points from Hanley, Hickey (0-2 ) and Aoibhe Power but it was Carnmore and Fahy who had the final say in the game as they netted their second major in the last play as Carnmore ran out two point winners on the day.
Athenry 2-13 Oranmore Maree 0-7
Athenry made it three wins from three when they overcame Oranmore Maree on Sunday evening in warm conditions in Killimor. Points from Noreen Coen, Sabina Rabbitte (0-2F ) and Jessica Gill put Athenry into a 0-4 to 0-0 lead by the 12th minute. Ailish O’Reilly got Oranmore Maree’s first score on the 12th minute but Rabbitte through a free and Coen followed up with two more for Athenry. O’Reilly got her second of the day on the 20th minute but Athenry kept extending their lead with points from Mollie Noone and a Rabbitte. Hannah Mangan and Rachael Hanniffy followed up with two for Oranmore Maree before the break as Athenry went in 0-8 to 0-4 in front at half time.
O’Reilly reduced the deficit to three in the opening minute of the second half but Athenry started to get a grip on the game scoring 2-4 without reply. Points from Rabbitte (0-3, 0-1F ), and Gill and a bullet of a goal from Eimear Keane and another major through Mollie Noone meant that Athenry were in the driving seat heading into the final quarter. O’Reilly clawed one back for Oranmore Maree while Dervla Higgins and Rebecca Grealish swapped scores before the end of the game as it finished Athenry 2-13 Oranmore Maree 0-7.
