Drom & Inch exact revenge to claim Munster senior title with win over Clare champions

AIB Munster Club Camogie Championship Final

Drom & Inch 0-14

Scarriff/Ogonnelloe 0-8

Drom & Inch exacted revenge for their Munster final loss to Scarriff Ogonnelloe in 2021 by beating the Clare champions in this year’s edition of the tie in an enthralling and attritional final played in Mallow, Cork earlier this afternoon.

Players and management alike would have had many sleepless nights recounting the heartbreaking loss against the Clare champions in last year’s final with Eimear McGrath’s last gasp puck to equalise in extra time drifting wide, and it was rather fitting that McGrath would be flawless from frees on the day as her 0-7 proved vital in this brilliant win.

The sides went in level at half time at 0-5 apiece as Drom faced into a pretty mild wind in Mallow, but they took control of the second half, with Niamh Treacy, Eimear McGrath, Miriam Campion, and super sub Katie O’Dwyer all playing very well; the latter scoring three points in less than ten minutes when the game was tight.

It was a much deserved victory for the Tipperary ladies as they seemed to have a greater edge to their game, as their back division also performed brilliantly, with Mairead Eviston and Aoife McGrath setting a solid base in the half back line, while Christina Brennan and Maureen Ryan really stood tall anytime Scariff Ogonnelloe moved toward goal throughout the game.

The conditions at the start of the game made it tough and attritional for the players, with the sticky underfoot conditions swallowing the ball anytime the play broke down, leading to big pile ups on many occasions, but Niamh Treacy started the game with a class bit of play the get the opening score after winning possession and pointing on the run to give Drom a good start.

It didn’t take long for the current Munster champions to get their scoring boots on, with the equaliser following in the next play with a free from Mairead Scanlon being dispatched with confidence, and it looked likely from the outset that this would be the theme of the game.

Operating around centre forward, Niamh Treacy was becoming very prominent early on and had her and her side’s second point in the fifth minute, capitalizing on some really hard work from Anne Eviston who managed to bundle the ball into the path of Treacy, who struck a beauty off her left from 30 yards out to restore the early lead.

The gap was extended to two points three minutes later as Eimear McGrath found her range for a first point of the day from a placed ball, but the Clare champions were always looking menacing and had the single point gap in sight again a minute later after another Scanlon free.

Indeed, the pace of the Scarriff Ogonnelloe players was a striking feature of their Munster success last year, and they nearly used that to good effect in the 15th minute, when Aoife Rodgers got out in front of Christina Brennan before burning the full back to stride in on goal from the left hand side, but her powerful effort was well saved by Bourke in the Drom goalie as danger was averted.

Bourke shot herself in the foot a minute later though, with a poor clearance finding Aoife Power on her own from 30 yards from goal, and the full forward gleefully tied up the match again at 0-3 apiece after 17 minutes.

Drom’s discipline in the poor conditions was proving a sticking point for the Tipp champions, as they went behind in the 22nd minute when Scanlon once again bisected the posts for her third pointed free of the day, and that would be how the play would go for the remainder of the half, with two Eimear McGrath frees sailing over in the next few minutes to restore Drom to a lead, but Scanlon had the final say of the half with her fourth of the day as the sides went in at the break all square at 0-5 apiece.

The restart proved to have a real sense of deja vú with the Drom ball getting back rolling through Niamh Treacy, who once again picked up possession deep in midfield before taking off and burning two Scarriff Ogonnelloe players as she ran some 50 yards down field before pointing a brilliant effort to put Drom into an early lead in the half.

That gave great confidence to players around the pitch and with the aid of the small breeze present in Mallow, Eimear McGrath made it a two point game just a minute later as she made space for herself under pressure around the 45 to strike over her first from play and give Drom the early initiative.

The Clare team though have great pedigree in this competition, and weren’t going to roll over despite that early setback, and it was county star Aoife Power who led the charge with her second point of the day in the 34th minute reducing the gap, and she had the match level once again a minute later, with the score of the game as she managed to evade savage pressure from the Drom defence to strike over a huge effort off her hurley and on the backfoot from 45 yards out.

It really was a helter skelter match now with both sides knowing that this game was there to be won, and after some five minutes of play where the ball didn’t go dead and some tired bodies all over the pitch, Anne Eviston restored the lead after Niamh Treacy’s clever handpass in behind the Scarriff Ogonnelloe cover gave Eviston space to run into and point off her left to make it 0-9 to 0-8; just after Jennifer Daly had levelled matters a minute earlier.

However, the final quarter was the winning of the match for Drom & Inch, as manager Pat Ryan made some really impactful change with the introduction of Katie O’Dwyer in the 49th minute proving to be a real stroke of genius, as she made an immediate impact, delivering the ball into Miriam Campion who cleverly linked up with Eimear McGrath to find the target and open a 0-10 to 0-8 lead after 50 minutes.

O’Dwyer was full of energy as she continued to impress by scoring her first point just a minute later after a poor misplaced pass from a Scarriff Ogonnelloe player, pointing well from the 21 yard line, and she followed that up with her second in the 57th minute after a lovely flick up by Miriam Campion gave her space to strike over a beauty to open up some daylight as Drom led by 0-12 to 0-8. 

O’Dwyer couldn’t be contained now, as she had her tail up now with confidence soaring and she had her third point a minute later as, once again, Miriam Campion proved to be the architect, latching onto a long Aoife McGrath sideline to find O’Dwyer on the overlap as the super sub made no mistake to extend the lead out to five points with normal time ticking down into the red.

It was all one way traffic now as the Clare champions began to run out of steam in a big way, and with the defensive shape out of kilter now, Drom had a lot of space when the ball found its way down field, and they drew a penalty a minute into added time when Miriam Campion got dragged down running in on goal by Susan Daly as Drom had a chance to kill the contest; but rather sensibly, Eimear McGrath took her point.

Despite Scarriff Ogonnelloe throwing the kitchen sink at the Drom goal in the final minutes, they couldn’t find their way to goal as the Tipperary champions claimed the Munster title and exacted revenge on their extra time loss in Mallow last year to the same opposition, and they can now look forward to a tilt at All-Ireland honours in the new year.

Scorers: Drom & Inch: Eimear McGrath (0-7, 0-4f, 0-1 pen), Niamh Treacy, Katie O’Dwyer 0-3 each, Anne Eviston 0-1.

Scarriff/Ogonnelloe: Mairead Scanlon 0-4f, Aoife Power 0-3, Jennifer Daly 0-1.

Drom & Inch: Caoimhe Bourke; Aine Greed, Christina Brennan, Maureen Ryan, Eimear Cahill, Mairead Eviston, Aoife McGrath; Niamh Long, Mary Burke; Eimear McGrath, Anne Eviston, Caroline Shanahan; Niamh Ryan, Niamh Treacy, Miriam Campion.

Subs: Joanne Ryan for N Ryan (47); Katie O’Dwyer for Long (49); Siobhan McGrath for Burke (60).

Scarriff/Ogonnelloe: Rachael Daly; Holly McGee, Susan Daly, Alison McGee; Ciara Doyle, Rachel Minogue, Amy Barrett; Abby Walsh, Lynda Daly; Jennifer Daly, Mairead Scanlon, Labhaoise O’Donnell; Alva Rodgers, Aoife Power, Lorraine Grady.

Subs: Bonnie Wiley Murphy for H McGee (50); Cliona McNamara for Grady (53); Aisling Corbett for J Daly (54).

Referee: Andy Larkin (Cork)