Sacred Heart Tullamore's All-Ireland dreams dashed by talented Newcastle West

Donal Burke Cup Senior D Post Primary All-Ireland Championship Final

SCOIL MHUIRE & IDE NEWCASTLE WEST 1-16

SACRED HEART SCHOOL TULLAMORE 1-5

THE dreams of Sacred Heart School, Tullamore, of capturing the PPS All-Ireland 'D' camogie title were scuppered by a very talented Scoil Mhuire & Ide side from Newcastle West in the final played in very difficult conditions at McDonagh Park in Nenagh on Saturday.

Sacred Heart Tullamore gave their all over the 60 minutes but on the day the scoring power of the Newcastle West side proved to be too much for them and they had to give best to their Limerick opponents.

The Tullamore side started the game well and a goal a minute into the game gave them a great start. Newcastle West showed glimpses of the threat they carried in the early stages but Tullamore managed to keep them out and the sides were still level heading into the final 10 minutes of the first half. That was when Newcastle West showed their real prowess as they rattled off seven points without reply to lead at the interval by 0-12 to 1-2.

Despite the deficit Sacred Heart showed great fight in the second half and limited Newcastle West's scoring opportunities. However they were finding it very difficult to pick off scores themselves and were unable to eat into the Limerick side's lead. A late goal put a real gloss on the scoreline for Newcastle West but the final scoreline was probably a little harsh on the efforts of Tullamore.

Conditions were very difficult for both sides. It rained for most of the game making an already sodden pitch softer. It was punishing for both sets of players and led to a lot of battles on the ground for the ball. The Limerick side tended to come out on top in a lot of the physical battles and that hampered Tullamore.

Newcastle West had two excellent forwards in Mia Smith and Hazel Horgan and they were effectively the difference between the sides. Both helped Limerick win the All-Ireland Under 16 A title two years ago and their class was evident. Between them they scored 1-12 of their side's 1-16 and many of them were quality scores. Considering that three of their remaining four points were scored by subs, it showed their importance to their side. But for some excellent defending by Tullamore, they could have inflicted even more damage on the scoreboard.

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To their credit Sacred Heart never gave up fighting. Some of their hooking and blocking was excellent and they fought valiantly until the final whistle. Unfortunately, despite their efforts, they didn't possess the scoring threat of Newcastle West, particuclarly on a wet day with a heavy ball. A lot of their efforts dropped short and a strong Newcastle West defence did well to hold them out.

Goalkeeper Aoife Kavanagh made some excellent saves to keep Tullamore in the game while in defence Lauren Boyle, Emily Walsh and Maebh Carey fought hard. Kayla Lawlor got on a lot of ball in the middle of the field while in attack Rachel Cunningham and Maeve Duffy fought hard.

Captain Cliodhna Heffernan, Cora Long and Kate O'Gorman were prominent in the Newcastle West defence, Isabelle O'Brien did well in the middle of the field while Mia Smith and Hazel Horgan were the stars of the attack with good support from Kayleigh Hurley.

Scoil Mhuire & Ide did make a fast start when Hazel Horgan pointed after just 20 seconds but Sacred Heart Tullamore's response was immediate as Maeve Duffy, playing with an advanbtage from the referee, sent in a shot which dipped over the goalkeeper and ended up in the net. Lily Marie Dolan added a point after four minutes and the Tullamore school had the perfect start.

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Newcastle West came more into the game and the dangerous Hazel Horgan had a shot deflected out for a '45' which she pointed herself. They did register three wides after that before a quick burst of three points saw them take the lead again. Mia Smith scored two of the points with Hazel Horgan slotting over the other to make it 0-5 to 1-1 after 12 minutes.

Sacred Heart levelled again after 17 minutes when Rachel Cunningham pointed a free but Newcastle West really took a stanglehjold of the game in the last 10 minutes of the first half. Goalkeeper Aoife Kavanagh did well to come out to deny a goalscoring opportunity but the ball was knocked out for a '45' which Hazel Horgan pointed and she quickly added a point from a free.

Six minutes before half time Newcastle West went close to a goal again but Hazel Horgan's shot was deflected onto the post by Aoife Kavanagh and in the scramble that followed Newcastle West couldn't force the ball over the line but Kayleigh Hurley popped the ball over the bar. Mia Smith and Hazel Horgan both added two points each from play to give Sccoil Mhuire & Ide a seven point lead at half time, 0-12 to 1-7.

Newcastle West extended that lead to eight a minute after the resumption when sub Sarah Cagney pointed but Tullamore began to come more into the game. They eventually ended a 23 minute spell without a score when Racchel Cunningham pointed a free. Tullamore had more of the ball at this time but found scores hard to come by. They kept a tighter rein on the Limerick side and kept them scoreless for 16 minutes before Sarah Cagney added a point for them.

Rachel Cunningham sent over a good point for Sacred Heart as they kept battling away. Emma Horgan and Mia Smith picked off points for Newcastle West before they put the icing on the cake with three minutes to go when Mia Smith's low cross picked out Hazel Horgan and she fired low to the net. Rachel Cunningham did point a late free for Tullamore but it was the Newcastle West girls who were celebrating at the final whistle.

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MATCH ANALYSIS

THE TEAMS

SCOIL MHUIRE & IDE NEWCASTLE WEST: Sarah Doyle; Emma O'Callaghan, Cliodhna Heffernan, Amy Gleeson; Beanne Larkin, Cora Long, Kate O'Gorman; Eabha Kelly, Isabelle O'Brien; Kate Liston, Grace Kelly, Mia Smith; Ella Cahill,Hazel Horgan, Kayleigh Hurley. Subs. Sarah Cagney (for Ella Cahill, 30 mins), Emma Horgan (for Kate Liston, 47 mins), Olivia O'Brien (for Cora Long, 58 mins).

SACRED HEART SCHOOL TULLAMORE: Aoife Kavanagh (Tullamore); Lauren Boyle (St Sinchill's), Rachel McEvoy (St Sinchill's), Alice Walsh (Tullamore); Katie McDermott (Tullamore), Emily Walsh (Tullamore), Maebh (Tullamore); Katie Fogarty (Tullamore), Kayla Lawlor (St Sinbchill's); Rachel Cunningham (Tullamore), Niamh Hughes (Tullamore), Maeve Duffy (Tullamore); Shannyn Healion (Kilcormac/Killoughey), Lily Marie Dolan (Tullamore), Emma Francis (Tullamore). Subs. Nicole Dunne (St Sinchill's) (for Shannyn Healion), Hannah Shaw (St Sinchill's) (for Alice Walsh, 59 mins).

REFEREE: Alan Lagrue (Kildare)

PLAYER OF THE MATCH

The official player of the match award went to Hazel Horgan but I've gone for her forward colleague Mia Smith by a narrow margin. She scored five points from play, and some of those were excellent scores from well out the field in difficult conditions. Her speed and ball winning ability caused problems for Tullamore and her all round play was excellent, helping set up many other sscores, including the goal Hazel Horgan did push her very closely for the award and they were the two outstanding players on the pitch.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

The 10 minute spell before half time was rally decisive. The sides were level up to that and Tullamore were still very much in the game, but Newcastle West fired over seven points without reply in that spell to really take control of the contest and while they battled extremely hard, Tullamore never really looked like closing that gap in the second half.

REFEREE WATCH

The experienced Alan Lagrue from Kildare took control of this contest and did a very good job. He allowed for the conditions as much as possible and played the advantage rule well. It was disappointing to see that there were no linespersons either for this game of the ''C' final which followed, especially considering they were two All-Ireland finals.

WHAT’S NEXT

Scoil Mhuire & Ide Newcastle West end the season as All-Ireland champions and Tullamore will have to be content with their Leinster title, which is a fine achievement in itself.

VENUE WATCH

On a very wet day, the Nenagh pitch was understandably heavy and soft and made it difficult for both sides. There weas a second game on afterwards as well, so the pitch did well to stand up as well as it did in the circumstances. There were stewards of duty looking after parking and other arrangements. Despite a robbery at the grounds the previous night, in which their amplifier and other field equipment were stolen, they still managed to get a PA system in operation for the game.

STATISTICS

Wides; Scoil Mhuire & Ide Newcastle West 8 (5 in first half) Sacred Heart Tullamore 2 (1 in first half)

Yellow Cards: None

Red Cards:None

THE SCORERS

Scoil Mhuire & Ide Newcastle West; Hazel Horgan (1-7, 0-2 '45s', 0-1 free), Mia Smith (0-5), Sarah Cagney (0-2), Kayleigh Hurley, Emma Horgan (0-1 each).

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Sacred Heart School Tullamore; Rachel Cunningham (0-4, 0-3 frees), Maeve Duffy (1-0), Lily Marie Dolan (0-1).