CORK’S MILFORD AND Galway’s Killimor will clash in the 2016 AIB All-Ireland senior camogie club final after their respective semi-final wins today.
It’ll be a repeat of the 2013 decider which Milford won by 3-6 to 1-5 and the North Cork club will be aiming for their third title in four years.
Milford booked their place as a result of a narrow 1-9 to 1-8 success over reigning champions Oulart-the-Ballagh in a game played at the Waterford IT campus in Carriganore.
Milford always held the upper hand in their heavyweight match-up involving the winners of the last four AIB All-Ireland senior camogie finals.
Emer Watson slotted placed balls for the Cork unit and though Ursula Jacob responded in kind, a Laura Stack goal, followed by another couple of points put the winners in s a strong position. Jacob kept her side in touch though and they trailed by just 1-4 to 0-6 at the break.
Watson and Deirdre Reilly helped open up a four-point gap as the second half progressed and that was to prove significant, as it rendered the late goal from Úna Leacy – playing her first game since having a cruciate knee ligament injury operated on last July – of consolation value only.
Killimor will be bidding for their second crown in the final on 6 March – their previous success came in 2011 – after they secured a 2-7 to 1-5 win in their semi-final against Loughgiel Shamrocks today in Clones.
Brenda Hanney rolled back the years with a superlative display to help Killimor keep Loughgiel Shamrocks at bay. The former Galway star scored 1-3 in a player-of-the-match performance and with Susan Keane adding 1-2, the westerners were able to maintain control.
As expected, Racquel McCarry provided the main threat for Shamrocks, providing 1-2 of their tally, and the Antrim contingent rallied well but could not reel in their gritty opponents.
The intermediate decider will be contested by Galway’s Eyrecourt and Tipperary’s Cahir. Eyrecourt saw off Tyrone club Eglish today by 3-6 to 0-5 in Kinnegad while Cahir beat Kilkenny’s Tullaroan by 1-8 to 1-5 in Freshford.
Dual star Róisín Howard slotted six points as a young Cahir unit booked their place in the intermediate decider. Laura Fitzpatrick’s goal was a key score for the Tipperary gang, who have experienced a meteoric rise, having been playing junior B camogie in 2012.
They are certain to face a stern examination from Eyrecourt in the final. The Galway team have earned a reputation for heavy goalscoring and showed that it was well earned against Tyrone contenders, Eglish.
Ironically, the country’s best known raiser of green flags, All Star Molly Dunne wasn’t amongst the trio to hit the Eglish net. Instead, it was Cora McEvoy, Laura Loughnane and Laoise Stones that registered the defining three-pointers.
