CAMOGIE: LIBERTY INSURANCE PREMIER JUNIOR CAMOGIE CHAMPIONSHIP
Greville goal sets Maroons on their way
QUALIFIED
Lake County to face Armagh in semi-finals
DUBLIN………………………………2-06
WESTMEATH………………………..1-10
By Daire Walsh
WESTMEATH will face Armagh in the semi-final of the Liberty Insurance Premier Junior Camogie Championship, after they claimed a dramatic victory over Dublin in their final Group 1 fixture at Parnell’s GAA Club, Coolock on Saturday afternoon last, July 29.
With both teams having already booked their places in the knockout stages of the competition with maximum points from three previous outings, the winner knew that they would face the runner-up from Group 2.
It looked like Dublin would emerge in pole position when Aoife Bulger registered her second goal of the game in the 55th-minute, but thanks to three unanswered points in stoppage-time by Raharney’s Pamela Greville, the Lake County outfit secured a nail-biting one-point triumph.
Westmeath had to plan without the McCormack sisters – Edel, Joanne and Mairead – because of a family wedding for this trip to the capital, although it did present a number of players with an opportunity to stake their claim for a starting place.
They had a strong wind advantage during the first-half, and even though Dublin opened the scoring through full-forward Bugler, Caoimhe McCrossan responded with an excellent score at the opposite end.
Bugler was a threat throughout for the hosts, and following a scramble inside the square on the stroke of 10 minutes, she fired neatly beyond the reach of Fiona Keating for the opening goal of the contest.
This was certainly a set-back for Westmeath, but courtesy of a successful free by corner-forward Dinah Loughlin from the next attacking phase, they quickly regained their composure.
Hannah Core and Greville were offering a strong outlet in the full-forward line, while Denise McGrath (who plays at club level in Dublin with Ballyboden St Enda’s) made her presence felt on the ’40’ alongside the Clonkill duo of Loughlin and Meadbh Scally.
A Loughlin ’45’ then cut the deficit to the bare minimum, before Westmeath moved into the ascendancy on 17 minutes. After a long delivery dropped in towards the Dublin goalmouth, Sheila McGrath was on hand to flick the ball past home netminder Aisling Spillane.
This helped to galvanise the Westmeath challenge, and with Dublin now struggling to impose themselves in attack, there was an opportunity for the visitors to build up a substantial cushion.
They were short of the target from some promising opportunities, but with a brace of Core points being supplemented by one from Sheila McGrath, they entered the interval with a 1-6 to 1-1 lead.
Westmeath had to be wary of a backlash from Dublin when the action resumed, but thanks to strong defensive work by Westmeath (exemplified by skipper Fiona Leavy), they had to wait almost eight minutes before their kick-started their second period account.
Nadine Murphy converted a free from a left-hand angle, and this was complimented by an outstanding score by Spillane – who stepped forward to convert a placed-ball from inside her own half.
Westmeath were now finding it difficult to create clear-cut chances, and when Bugler added to her tally with a well-worked point, the momentum appeared to be with Dublin. Their scoring sequence was finally disrupted 10 minutes from the end of normal time, after Sheila McGrath brilliantly split the posts from a distance of 35 metres.
Yet, Dublin continued to push on in the final-quarter, and successive contributions from substitutes Evelyn Twomey and Sinead Wylde once again left a single point between the teams.
Every score was going to be vital at this stage, and when Bugler grabbed another major with a neat close-range finish, the Metropolitans found themselves in the driving seat.
Westmeath never allowed their heads to drop, however, and a Greville score three minutes into time added on gave them a fighting chance of sealing a positive result.
Indeed, another routine free by Greville level matters once more, and with all of 65 minutes gone on the clock, Greville sensationally fired Westmeath in front with an excellent score from a right-hand angle.
They had to breathe a sigh of relief when a last-gasp Spillane was wide of the mark, but Westmeath can now look forward to a meeting with the Orchard County in the penultimate round.
Scorers – Westmeath: P Greville 1-3 (2f), D Loughlin (1f, 1 ’45’), S McGrath and H Core 0-2 each, C McCrossan 0-1. Dublin: A Bugler 2-2, A Spillane (f), N Murphy (f), E Twomey and S Wylde 0-1 each.
WESTMEATH: Fiona Keating; Sarah King, Aoife Higgins, Julie McLoughlin; Elaine Finn, Fiona Leavy, Laura Doherty; Aoife Doherty, Caoimhe McCrossan; Dinah Loughlin, Denise McGrath, Meabhe Scally; Hannah Core, Pamela Greville, Sheila McGrath. Subs: Louise O’Connor for Scally (53), Aoife Boyle for A Doherty (60).
DUBLIN: Aisling Spillane; Ciara Buchanan, Niamh Gleeson, Roisin McLoughlin; Grainne Free, Deirdre Johnstone, Emma Barron; Grainne Power, Roisin Drohan; Laoise Quinn, Roisin Baker, Aoife Dooley; Emer Keenan, Aoife Bulger, Nadine Murphy. Subs: Evelyn Twomey for Quinn (43), Sinead Wylde for Murphy (45), Ciara Carolan for Baker (57), Sinead Nolan for Dooley (61).
Ref: Conor Quinlan (Galway).