Senior 1 Camogie Cup Final: Ballyboden St Enda’s 2-9 St Vincent’s 2-8

Daire Walsh

Sarah Nagle struck a late point at Páirc Uí Murchú on Sunday morning to secure a nail-biting victory for Ballyboden St Enda’s against St Vincent’s in a gripping Dublin Senior One Camogie Cup final.

Trailing by five points at the midway stage in the contest, Boden looked set to lose out on their home patch. Alison Maguire and Grace Gilroy were in flying form for Vins during the opening period, with both players finding the back of the opposition net.

However, Boden had a brace of star performers of their own in the form of the Nagles – the aforementioned Sarah and centre-forward Laura. The latter Nagle finished the action with an impressive haul of 2-2 with her second major on 58 minutes levelling matters for just the third time.

Maguire’s final tally of 1-6 made her the scorer-in-chief for St Vincent’s and it initially looked like being enough to get the visitors over the line. Even though it wasn’t to be for them in the end, they are expected to be operating at the business end of the Go Ahead Senior One Championship.

While Vins fielded without a number of inter-county stars – such as former All-Star Aisling Maher and Dublin senior footballer Niamh Hetherton – the presence of Maguire did add considerably to their chances of success.

The driving forces behind the scenes for this team are none other than the dynamic managerial duo of Pat Gilroy and Mickey Whelan, who have served both club and county with great distinction in the past.

Their side began this contest in devastating fashion with a brace of Maguire scores being supplemented by a fine point from Gilroy’s daughter Grace. Ballyboden were struggling to settle into the action, but finally got up and running when Laura Nagle rattled the net after being released by Claire Kirwan.

Although manager Terry O’Neill was hoping this would settle his charges, Vins continued to impress in attack. Maguire expertly split the uprights on the stroke of 10 minutes and this was immediately followed by Gilroy’s superb goal on the run.

The Southsiders were coming under immense pressure in defence and were grateful for the lift that Eimear O’Leary’s point from play provided. This left them three points adrift (1-4 to 1-1) at the first half water break, but the gap between the teams subsequently increased.

Gilroy added a point at the end of another surging drive and Maguire pulled home for a second Vins goal on 23 minutes from an acute right-hand angle. Midfielder Katie McDonald and Sarah Nagle (two) contributed badly-needed points for ’Boden, though a Maguire free ensured the hosts were 2-6 to 1-4 in front at the interval.

Scoring chances were few and far between in the early moments of the second half, but Laura Nagle points in the 31st and 38th minutes presented ’Boden with a realistic hope of turning the game around. Vins remained firmly in the ascendancy, however, and Maguire’s two-point salvo off placed-balls kept the Páirc Naomh Uinsionn outfit five points to the good inside the final-quarter.

Substitute Darina Ryan’s attempt at a point for ’Boden rebounded off the post and Vins netminder Deirdre Johnstone turned away a Laura Nagle goal-bound effort on 49 minutes.

Ballyboden eventually cut into their deficit with two successful frees from Sarah Nagle and the longer the tie wore on, the more tentative Vins became. They were doing their utmost to keep the ’Boden attack at bay, but Laura Nagle wiped out their lead with a composed finish after the ball had broken into her path.

Momentum now on their side, Ballyboden had three opportunities to edge into a slender advantage. Following a brace of near misses, Sarah Nagle made no mistake with a close-range free to give her side the lead for the very first time.

The clock was now against Vincent’s and with a final effort from Gilroy dropping short into the arms of opposition custodian Emma Comerford, they ultimately fell short.

SCORERS – Ballyboden St Enda’s: L Nagle 2-2, S Nagle 0-5 (5f), K McDonald, E O’Leary 0-1 each. St Vincent’s: A Maguire 1-6 (0-4f), G Gilroy 1-2.

BALLYBODEN ST ENDA’S: E Comerford; M O’Donoghue, H Hyland, H Leddy; L O’Shea, G Walsh, L Burns; S Nagle, K McDonald; D White, L Nagle, O Meagher; E O’Leary, J White, C Kirwan. Subs: H Byrne for O’Leary (25), D Ryan for J White (42).

ST VINCENT’S: D Johnstone; A Lambe, A Traynor, L Smith; A Farrell, D Smith, A Woods; G Quinn, M Kelliher; R Regan, G Gilroy, E McGovern; A Fanning, C Clinton, A Maguire. Subs: D Parker for Regan (10), R Boland for Lambe (29), A Naughton for Fanning (46), C Donnelly for Clinton (50).

MENTORS – Ballyboden St Enda’s: Terry O’Neill, Catherine Nagle, Eoin Reid, Aoife Tobin, Mattie Weldon, Colette McDonald. St Vincent’s: Pat Gilroy, Mickey Whelan, Patsy Murphy, Aoife Drumgoole, David O’Leary, Tom Russell, Kathryn Cantounias.

REFEREE: John Doherty (Robert Emmet’s).

WIDES – Ballyboden St Enda’s: 7 (1+6); St Vincent’s: 5 (4+1).

CONDITIONS: Dry and breezy throughout.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Laura Nagle (Ballyboden St Enda’s).