CAMOGIE: MINOR ‘A’ CH’SHIP FINAL
Joseph’s put stop to a Dominican treble
Daire Walsh
ST JOSEPH’S College, Lucan produced a powerful performance at Good Counsel GAA last Friday to claim the Dublin Schools Minor ‘A’ Camogie Championship at Dominican College’s expense.
Thanks in no small part to the scoring prowess of attacking duo Hannah Gibbs and Sophie McIntyre, the Esker North outfit edged through on a final scoreline of 3-7 to 4-1.
Having earned top honours in this season’s Junior ‘A’ and Senior ‘A’ deciders, Dominicans were looking to complete a schools camogie treble.
Despite staging a commendable second-half rally, they couldn’t rein in the challenge of Joseph’s. When the two sides met in the group stages, it was Dominicans who came out on top. The Griffith Avenue school remained unbeaten en route to this showpiece, but were placed under intense pressure from the word go. Centre-back Aisling Behan was outstanding throughout and drove Joseph’s forward at every available opportunity.
Gibbs bagged a brace of goals for the Lucan girls and with McIntyre also in fine form, they held a seven-point cushion at the interval.
A resilient Dominicans switched Ruth Fitzsimons to full-forward and she significantly bolstered their tally with a hat-trick of goals and Jessica Howlett also made her presence felt.
They reduced their deficit to three points in the dying minutes, setting up a tantalising conclusion. Nevertheless, St Joseph’s – led on the day by full-back Cara Ware – dug deep to hold out for a precious victory in the end.