This article is from page 59 of the 2011-07-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 59 JPG
Wexford 3-11 – Clare 0-10 at Cusack Park, Ennis
MUCH LIKE their hurling counterparts later that evening, the biggest barrier for Clare to get to the next level at senior camogie championship level is the concession of needless goals. While a ten point defeat to the All-Ireland champions is not at all shameful, it could have and indeed, should have been a lot closer but they leaked soft goals at one end while posing no threat to goal at the other and you don’t need a mathematician to work out that this formula isn’t going to work.
What the final scoreline also doesn’t tell you is the fact that Clare led comfortably by 0-5 to 0-2 by the end of the opening quarter and that Chloe Morey, Claire McMahon and Fiona Lafferty would not look out of place in any side in the country.
Instead of building on that lead however, Clare shot a massive hole in their foot by gifting Wexford a goal in the 18th minute and loaded the gun for a shot at the other foot only seconds later with another preventable goal.
The first came after a high delivery was not dealt with by the Clare defence and Ursula Jacob had the simple task of tapping to the net. While in the next passage of play, Katrina Parrock had a effort for a point kept from going over the bar by goalkeeper Susan Vaughan, only to put it into the path of the waiting Elevyn Quigley who kicked over the line despite suspicions of a square ball.
With that, Clare’s three point lead actually swung to a four poit deficit at 2-3 to 0-5 and the game was all but over as Wexford finally found their feet. Goalkeeper Susan Vaughan made a super double save to deny Parrock and Quigley two minutes later as Clare drifted into panic and by the break, they were fortunate to only be 2-5 to 0-6 in arrears.
The half-time rallying call fell on deaf ears as within three minutes of the restart, Quigley nipped in for her second goal of the game followed by points from Kate Kelly and Parrock to open up a 3-7 to 0-6 advantage.
A lack of scoring forwards didn’t aid Clare’s cause but they did rally through placed balls with Claire McMahon accurately cutting the deficit to seven by the hour mark. In fact, Clare would only score two points from play all afternoon while Wexford showed why they are the AllIreland champions with the last three points to finish the job.
All is not lost for Clare however as they have little time to dwell on the defeat with a trip to Kilkenny this weekend. Learning the lessons of Saturday’s goals are crucial if Clare are to finish the campaign strongly.
Wexford
Mas Darcy (St Martin’s), Claire O’Connor (Rathnure), Catherine O’Loughlin (Monageer-Boolavogue), Karen Atkinson (Oulart the Ballagh), Noeleen Lambert (St Martin’s), Mary Leacy (Oulart the Ballagh),Aoife O’Connor (Rathnure), Michelle O’Leary (Rathnure), Josie Dwyer (Ferns St Aidan’s), Kate Kelly (St Ibar’s) (0-2 1f), Una Leacy (Oulart the Ballagh) (0-2), Brid Gordon (Blackwater) (0-1), Katriona Parrock (St Ibar’s) (0-3), Ursula Jacob (Oulart the Ballagh) (1-3 3f), Evelyn Quigley (Rathnure) (2-0)
Subs
Deirdre Codd (Dufry Rovers) for Dwyer (41 mins), Ciara Storey (Oulart the Ballagh) for C. O’Connor (41 mins), Lenny Holohan (Rathnure) for Gordon (41 mins), Fiona Kavanagh (Bunclody) for U. Leacy (56 mins)
Clare
SusanVaughan (Ogonnelloe), Helen McMahon (Kilmaley), Siobhan Lafferty (Inagh), Aimee McInerney (Newmarket-on-Fergus), Ruth Kaiser Newmarket-on-Fergus), Chloe Morey (Sixmilebridge), Roisin McMahon (Newmarketon-Fergus), Kate Lynch (Kilkishen),Aisling Hannon (Clooney/Quin), Sinead O’Loughlin (Inagh), Deirdre Murphy (Clooney/Quin) (0-1), Claire McMahon (Kilmaley) (0-9 7f, 1’65), Shonagh Enright (Kilmaley), Fiona Lafferty (Inagh), Sharon McMahon (Newmarket-on-Fergus)
Subs
Patricia O’Loughlin (Inagh) for S. O’Loughlin (41 mins), Maire McGrath (Sixmilebridge) for McInerney (41 mins), Naomi Carroll (Sixmilebridge) for Hannon (41 mins), Mary Roseingrave (Crusheen) for Enright (55 mins), Aiveen O’Shea (Sixmilebridge) for S. McMahon (58 mins)
Player of the Game
Katriona Parrock (Wexford) Referee Karl O’Brien (Dublin)