Lismore players of the present and future celebrate their Premium Butcher-sponsored County Senior Camogie Final victory at Fraher Field last Saturday.
Lismore won a third successive County Senior Camogie County title, their fifth senior crown in seven years when they beat great rivals Saint Anne’s on Saturday afternoon last at Fraher Field.
And it was in the second half where the former All-Ireland champions demonstrated their qualities, producing an excellent 30 minutes in which they emerged as five-point victors against a resolute St Anne’s outfit.
At the break, the champions trailed by 1-4 to 0-5, but the second half was stunningly influenced by Aoife Hannon, who struck seven points during the half, ending the match with nine in all. Player of the match? With bells on.
However, St Anne’s trudged off the paddock with more than a little justified whatiffery in their thoughts, having struck the woodwork twice while also missing a late penalty.
The holders were first off the mark with a point from the combative Ruth Geoghegan on three minutes, and within seconds at the opposite end, St Anne’s Zoe O’Donoghue crashed the ball off the Lismore crossbar.
Hannon and O’Donoghue exchanged scores by the 12th minute before Jennie Simpson levelled matters with a brace of pointed frees inside a four-minute spell.
Aoife Hannon regained a lead for Lismore before St Anne’s took the lead on 27 minutes when a dipping shot from Pauline Cunningham, which looked to be destined to fly over Tanya Morrissey’s crossbar, dipped at the last moment and into the net.
Aoife Hannon and Jennie Simpson traded further scores to give St Anne’s a two-point lead at the interval, as Lismore were left to rue a series of wayward scoring opportunities.
Come the second half, Lismore were a team transformed, and their strike for the finish line proved decisive as Aoife Hannon struck four points and Caithriona McGlone added a brace to send the black and gold three points clear.
St Anne’s first score of the second half came in the 46th minute via a free from the excellent Niamh Rockett, but this was immediately cancelled out by the outstanding Hannon.
Lismore goalkeeper Tanya Morrissey made a brilliant save from Jennie Simpson in the 49th minute but in their attempt to clear the ball, a Lismore back was adjudged to have thrown the ball, which led to a penalty.
Up stepped Jennie Simpson, but she sent her effort just wide of Rebecca Kavanagh’s right hand post, a miss compounded by another brace of Hannon points to send Lismore 0-13 to 1-5 clear.
But to their credit, Saint Anne’s refused to lie down, as Simpson and Hannon traded scores before Jennie Simpson sent a blistering shot crashing off the upright.
Three minutes into added time, Simpson brought her tally for the afternoon to five points with a free, with All-Ireland winning skipper McGlone knocked over another Lismore point to complete the afternoon’s scoring.
Lismore will face the intermediate champions from Tipperary or Cork on the weekend of November 14th, and it will take one hell of a team to get the better of them.
Lismore: Tanya Morrissey; Marie Russell, Shauna Prendergast, Sarah Coughlan; Aoife Houlihan, Shauna Kiernan, Johanna Houlihan; Shona Curran, Gráinne Kenneally; Aoife Houlihan, Caithriona McGlone, Emma Power; Ruth Geoghegan, Nicola Morrissey, Jennifer Kingston.
Scorers: Aoife Hannon (0-9; 0-4f, 0-2 45’), Caithriona McGlone (0-4), Shona Curran and Ruth Geoghegan (0-1 each).
Substitutes: Sarah Geoghegan for Johanna Houlihan and Ellen Curran for Jennifer Kingston.
St Anne’s: Rebecca Kavanagh; Aisling Keating, Labhaoise Dunbarr, Niamh Behan; Saoirse Bonner, Claire Whyte, Mairead Murphy; Claire Murphy, Charlotte Raher; Sibéal Harney, Jennie Simpson, Pauline Cunningham; Zoe O’Donoghue, Niamh Rockett, Michelle McDonald.
Scorers: Jennie Simpson (0-5f), Pauline Cunningham (1-0), Zoe O’Donoghue (0-1) and Niamh Rockett (0-1 f).
Substitute: Bronwyn Grace for Niamh Behan.
Referee: John Kirby.
