CAMOGIE
Magnificent Castleknock go all the way in All-Ireland
Daire Walsh
THERE were scenes of unbridled joy at Iniskeen last Friday for Castleknock Community College, who claimed the All-Ireland Senior ‘C’ Camogie Championship with a 2-7 to 0-5 victory over St Patrick’s Keady of Armagh.
This game was originally due to take place six days earlier, but owing to adverse weather conditions, it was re-fixed for this later date. Margaret Shortall’s side defeated Presentation Wexford at the semi-final stage last month, and having already secured the Dublin Senior ‘B’ crown in 2017, they were confident of adding another title to their trophy cabinet.
INFLUENTIAL
Skipper Aoife Whelan has been an influential figure for Castleknock, and she opened the scoring with a well-taken point. Further scores arrived through Caitlin Coffey, Mairead McCarthy and Aisling Andrews (free), which meant that they brought a 0-4 to 0-2 cushion into the break.
Pat’s were not out of contention just yet, though, and Castleknock netminder Sophie Browne produced a number of fine saves in the second half. Claire Nulty, Molly O’Neill and Ciara Golden all performed well, but it was a brace of quick-fire goals that ultimately helped the Metropolitans to seal the silverware on offer.
The excellent Whelan pounced for an eye-catching three-pointer, and when O’Neill delivered a long-ball towards the Pat’s goalmouth, substitute Deirdre McCarthy flicked to the net in clinical fashion.
Their gallant Ulster opponents pressed for scores in the latter stages, but thanks to Whelan and Andrews points, Castleknock CC were propelled towards a memorable success.