CAMOGIE IRISH DAILY STAR NATIONAL CAMOGIE LEAGUE DIVISION 3
DUBLIN 0-8
WESTMEATH 0-5
Daire Walsh
FIVE points from midfielder Georgina Kelly proved crucial in O’Toole Park on Sunday afternoon, as Dublin had three points to spare over Westmeath in a low-scoring Irish Daily Star National Camogie League Division 3 encounter.
This gave the Metropolitan outfit some form of revenge for their defeat to the Lake County in last year’s All-Ireland Junior ‘A’ decider, as despite some promising performances from Dinah Loughlin and Pamela Greville, the Westmeath girls ultimately came up short in their first competitive game of 2013.
From an early point in the contest, it was clear that every score was going to be of major importance, and it was Dublin who got the scoring underway, as Kelly comfortably converted a 25-metre free from in front of the posts.
Westmeath did manage to cancel out this score with a fine effort on the right-wing from Raharney’s Pamela Greville seven minutes in, but with Yvette Cully’s charges struggling to settle into the proceedings, Dublin hit back with three points in succession through Faugh Celtic’s Kelly (2) and full-forward Roisin Collins, who was causing the Westmeath rearguard a number of problems.
Clonkill centre-fielder Loughlin did halt this scoring sequence when she drilled a 60-metre free between the posts on 16 minutes, but the ever-reliable Kelly responded with a long distance strike of her own five minutes later.
As half-time quickly beckoned, Dublin appeared to have the edge on their midland rivals, but Westmeath ended the opening period in positive fashion, as another white flag contribution from Loughlin was followed up by a fifth point courtesy of Laura Thompson, moments after the centre-forward from Cullion had dropped a similar attempt from close-in short of the target. This meant that Dublin’s lead had been reduced to one (0-5 to 0-4) by the midway stage, setting the game up for an intriguing second half. The introduction of Roisin Scally before the break had brought energy to the Westmeath half-back division, but much like the start of the tie, the action upon the resumption was extremely scrappy and often stop-start in nature.
However, the visitors were starting to gain a stranglehold around the middle-third moving into the final 20 minutes of play, and the lively Greville went close to registering the first goal of the game after 42 minutes, but her pulled effort from a left-hand angle was well-saved by Dublin netminder Stephanie Carthy.
This was a let-off of sorts for Dublin, who would eventually opening the second period scoring a full 17 minutes after the restart thanks to a second point from the elusive Collins.
With their opponents always keeping a slender hold over them, it was going to be a tough task for Westmeath to come away with the victory they craved in the Crumlin venue, but they gave themselves a fighting chance of success when Loughlin brilliantly slotted over a free from the left-hand touchline with nine minutes left to play.
Dublin also had corner-back Clodagh McGough dismissed on a second yellow-card offence by this point, but they were in no mood to be denied their second triumph of the current term, and they quickly re-asserted their position with Collins’ third score from play, a tremendous strike from all of 40 metres. This gave them a vital edge in the closing stages of the game, and even though Westmeath did their best to try and force the issue in their favour, they were being kept firmly on the back-foot as full-time fast approached.
The insurance score then arrived with just one minute remaining through Kelly, who conjured up her fifth point of the afternoon with a 40-metre free, which sealed the points for last year’s Division 4 champions, and leaves Westmeath needing a win at home to Laois on Saturday, as they aim to maintain their push for promotion.
Scorers
Dublin: G Kelly 0-5 (frees), R Collins 0-3. Westmeath: D Loughlin 0-3 (frees), L Thompson (f) and P Greville 0-1 each.
DUBLIN: Stephanie Carthy; Siobhan Grimes, Grainne Ryan, Clodagh McGough; Grainne Free, Shauna Duff, Elaine Sherry; Georgina Kelly, Emer Maher; Alison McGrath, Michelle Kelly, Emma Flanagan; Emer Keenan, Roisin Collins, Laoise Quinn. Subs: Grainne Smyth for Free (half-time), Elaine Gallery for Keenan (40), Mikaela Dunne for McGrath (40), Roisin Gillen for Quinn (52), Carolanne Canning for Collins (60).
WESTMEATH: Fiona Keating; Sarah King, Jemma Egan, Eileen Murphy; Laura Hannon, Aisling Conaty, Aoife Higgins; Dinah McLoughlin, Jenna McKeogh; Catriona Murtagh, Laura Thompson, Pamela Greville; Aoife Boyle, Mairead McCormack, Sandra McGrath. Subs: Roisin Scally for Hannon (25), Avril Corbett for Boyle (50), Muireann Scally for McCormack (57).
Ref
Philip McDonald (Cavan).