This article is from page 88 of the 2009-08-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 88 JPG
THERE are two ways of looking at this minor final that saw Kilkenny complete a unique four-in-a-row of All-Ireland titles.
Either you can take the positive approach and promote the fact that Clare underage camogie are bridg- ing the gap at national level in reach- ing their second successive minor fi- nal and closing the margin from last year’s decider or alternatively you can despair at the fact that realistical- ly Clare never looked like capturing a historic first title after Kilkenny’s superior movement and ruthlessness up front produced five first half goals to lead by 13 points at the break.
Either way it’s difficult to grumble with the result that re-enforces Kil- kenny’s hold at underage level. They thoroughly deserved their victory and ultimately revelled in the wide open space of Semple Stadium.
Clare, for their part, never dropped their heads at any stage and should be commended for taking the game to their opponents in the second pe- riod, outscoring Kilkenny by 2-4 to O-5. However, the nightmare of the first half left them with far too much to do after Kilkenny had hit them for five goals.
Clare will point to a luckless first period when Shonagh Enright twice hit the woodwork with goal efforts and they also had two half chances in the second half, both of which were denied by the Kilkenny full-back line. In addition, the refereeing was erratic at times but in truth, Clare got the rub of those decisions as much as Kilkenny over the hour.
Clare started with seven of last year’s side while the defending champions had six survivors but in order to break their Kilkenny hoo- doo, Clare craved a good start.
Instead, however, it was Kilkenny who took the initiative from the out- set with full-forward Denise Gaule converting a 50 metre free after only 40 seconds before adding a goal in the third minute. The decision for the goal was harsh in the extreme as Anne Marie McMahon was pulled up for over-carrying when the ma- jority of the crowd assumed she had earned the free herself.
It came after Karen Duggan passed to Gaule close to goal and when her shot was batted clear by goalkeeper Ailish Considine, McMahon caught the ball but was adjudged to have over-carried and Gaule crashed the resultant 20 metre free to the net.
Clare’s response was swift and just as effective as Shonagh Enright dis- possessed full-back Alison Walsh and offloaded to the unmarked Rot- sin O’Brien who found the net but crucially Kilkenny cancelled it out in the next passage of play through Michelle Farrell to lead by 2-1 to 1-0 by the seventh minute.
Three Shonagh Enright frees were equally matched by Gaule (2) and Michelle Farrell by the 22nd minute before Kilkenny upped the ante again with well-worked goals from Gaule and Claire Phelan.
By now, Kilkenny’s full-forward line had totted up the entire 4-5 total between them and it forced Clare to
alter their last line by moving Chloe Morey to her more natural position of centre-back in a switch with sub- stitute Carol Kaiser.
With Morey now influencing great- ly, Clare began to open up and play and it was one of those clearances that sent Shonagh Enright through on goal, only to see her shot some- how kept out by a combination of goalkeeper Emma Staunton and the post in the 28th minute.
That miss was magnified only sec- onds later when Gaule handpassed to Aisling Phelan for her second goal of the game but it didn’t derail a resur-
gent Clare who created another goal chance soon afterwards but this time, Enright was denied by the crossbar as a luckless Clare went in trailing by 5-5 to 1-4 at the interval.
Three further points had Kilkenny 16 points clear by the 36th minute but credit Clare for their response as they stopped the supply to the Kilkenny full-forward line and proceeded to outscore Kilkenny by 2-4 to O-2 for the remainder.
Shonagh Enright finally got her just reward in the 38th minute when she received a pass from Katie Cahill to flick past goalkeeper Staunton and
after two more points, Roisin McMa- hon cut the deficit to nine when she gathered a break to rifle a ball to the net via the stick of the goalkeeper by the 54th minute.
Despite the brave fightback how- ever, time was ultimately against them as Kilkenny emptied the bench to hang on for the remaining minutes to claim their fourth All-Ireland title in a row and condemn Clare to their second successive final defeat.
Whether you took the positive or negative viewpoint of this final, mor- al victories are of scant consolation to this group of players.