By Daire Walsh

Thursday October 18 2012

ST MAC DARA’S CSS 4-8, ST JOSEPH’S COLL, LUCAN 2-3 – Second-half goals from Eimear O’Riordan, Nadia Power and Ava Faulkner paved the way for St Mac Dara’s Community School’s victory in this Dublin Schools Camogie Junior ‘A’ Championship Group 1 clash in Tymon North.

In a sideshow to the main event, Mac Dara’s had to turn their jerseys inside out, as their green-coloured shirts were almost identical to that of the Lucan side.

This didn’t seem to faze Mac Dara’s, though, as they made the much brighter start to the contest, with a brace of scores by centre-forward Aoife Molloy being swiftly added to by a point apiece from Eimear McCourt and Power, giving the Templeogue girls a four-point cushion inside the opening eight minutes.

However, Joseph’s got themselves right back into the fray after 14 minutes, when Orla Murphy pulled to the net past the stranded Faye McCarthy after Charlotte Rooney’s effort from the left-hand side had been batted away from the goal.

Calming

This was an indication of what Joseph’s could bring to the table, but Mac Dara’s were quick to respond, as corner-forward Sarah Lahiff added to her team’s tally with a well-taken point from close range.

The remainder of the half proved to be rather scrappy, and though Joseph’s started to make more of an impression in their opponent’s half, Mac Dara’s Marion O’Donnell was proving to be a calming presence in the centre-half back position.

Then, with half-time fast approaching, Mac Dara’s received a massive boost, when a long-distance free from Caragh Dawson deceived Joseph’s netminder Jenny Ryan and found its way into the back of the net for their first major of the afternoon.

This gave Mac Dara’s plenty of breathing space heading into the second period, but Joseph’s were not willing to give in and raised a green flag for a second occasion seven minutes after the restart, when midfielder Ciara Casey (who had moved to the edge of the square) finished coolly from close in.

Once again, though, Mac Dara’s were able to reel Joseph’s in, as further points would arrive from the influential Molloy and O’Riordan, followed by a major from the latter on 41 minutes.

This turned out to be the pivotal moment of the tie because, despite a couple of quick-fire Joseph’s points from half-back Laura O’Mahony, xMac Dara’s now had their tails up, and a third goal arrived with 11 minutes remaining courtesy of the pacy Power, whose speculative attempt from 40 metres founds its way past the unfortunate Ryan.

Three minutes later, a rampant Mac Dara’s added a fourth goal through substitute Faulkner, and a Lisa Fallon point eased them over the line, in spite of a late pointed free by Joseph’s corner-back Emma O’Flynn.

Scorers – St Mac Dara’s Community School: N Power, E O’Riordan 1-1 each; C Dawson (f), A Faulkner 1-0 each; A Molloy 0-3 (1f); S Lahiff, E McCourt, L Fallon 0-1 each. St Joseph’s College, Lucan: O Murphy, C Casey 1-0 each; L O’Mahony 0-2; E O’Flynn 0-1 (f).

St Mac Dara’s CS: F McCarthy; C Kilbane, E O’Neill, L Gibney; G Foley, M O’Donnell, H Noonan; C Dawson, C Sweeney; M Noone, A Molloy, N Power; S Lahiff, E McCourt, E O’Riordan. Subs: A Faulkner for McCourt (36), L Fallon for Lahiff (40), A O’Donnell for Noonan (43), G Foley for O’Neill (50), G Foley for Kilbane (51).

St Joseph’s College, Lucan: J Ryan; E O’Flynn, M Dowler, S Byrne; L O’Mahony, A Gorman, J Kelly; C Casey, J Condron; K Feeney, O Murphy, S Fitzgerald; E McIntyre, C Rooney, O Carroll. Subs: N Fitzgibbon for Feeney (44).

REFEREE: S O’Sullivan.

– Daire Walsh