The focus of the James Hurley U14 All Ireland Intercounty Blitz is on fun and participation but there is real competition to be the best County in 2010.
At the end of the day Dublin are All Ireland champions for the first time. A week of adversity ended in glorious sunshine in Mallow with the Dublin U14 Camogie Stormbirds being crowned champions after 6 high intensity matches against the best camogie teams in the country. A total team effort from a reduced panel with all 20 girls giving 110% won the day. The reward was sweet after the commitment shown over the last year, and especially during those cold and wet winter mornings in the snow, were even opening the padlock on the All weather facilities in Naomh Brid was a task within itself.
An early start at 7.30 pm from the Red Cow seen the bus travel a well beaten route by this team over the last year. Dublin had A & B panels, the A panel would compete against Tipperary, Limerick, Galway, Kilkenny and Cork for the Cup and the B panel would compete for the Plate. With improvements to the road meant less time on the bus and more time for a warm up when we arrived 20 mins ahead of schedule. A quick visit to dressing room No1 to deposit our gearbags and straight to pitch for stretches. Kilkenny were the holders of the Cup but girls in blue meant business today. First up were Tipperary, who were serious challengers, having lost the final in the past 3 years. A good start was vital.
Dublin with a new midfield of partnership of Aoife Mc Kenna and Doireann Mullany started the match on fire from the throw in and gave their opposition little room being involved in every attack. An early high ball led to Dublin being awarded a penalty after Laura Morrissey was fouled bearing down on goal. Unfortunately Laura sat out the remainder of the game due to injury. Up stepped Orla Beagan to ease the nerves with a well taken goal. Orla followed the penalty with a goal from a 45 several minutes later. Tipperary showed improvement throughout the half and were rewarded with a fine goal close to half time. The second half began with Dublin raising their game again, and half backs Mary Cronin, Eilise O Grady and Sarah Nagle closing out any Tipperary attacks. A wonderful goal by Tess Coyne midway though the half was just reward for all her hard work. Lily Conden and Sophie Lyons continued to battle hard and Ailise O Neill capped of a fine performance with a goal to make Dublin victorious by 4 goals and 2 points to 1 and 1.
Time waits for no team, so next up immediately were Limerick, who caught Dublin flatfooted early on by going into a 8 point lead. Dublin were a bit flat and the defence was always under pressure. However with fine performances from Chloe Rochfort, Niamh Byrne and Blaithin McQuillan, Dublin started to fight back. Tess Coyne scored a fine point after a great handpass from Anna Walsh, and Orla Beagan reduced the defiset with a well taken goal and point. Limerick finished the game the stronger of the two sides with 2 further points, ending up winning by a scoeline Dublin 1-2 Limerick 2-5.
Galway provided the opposition for match 3. Last match before lunch, and a break from the intense sunshine. Who would have thought we would want a break from sunshine in Ireland. Limerick game is forgotten and Dublin started well. Players back on form and running at opposition. Eve Keogh and Anna Walsh solo runs opens up loads of space, and no better players at capitalising than forwards Laura Morrissey, Ailish O Neill and Laura Mulvey. Dublin race into a big lead with points from Eve Keogh and Orla Beagan, and a goal a piece to Ailish O Neill and Laura Morrissey. The fact that Galway scored 1 point in this half was testament to how well defenders Sophie Lyons, Anne Marie Courtney and Blathin McQuillan did the business. Eve Keogh continuing her tireless running in the second half and was rewarded with a second point and Orla Beagan added her second from a free. Lily Condon and Shaunagh Harte both hurled well and continued to cause their markers problems. Galway rallied late with a goal and a point but Dublin ran out deserving winners by a scoreline Dublin 2-4 Galway 1-2
Lunch break but not a lot of food eaten as there were too many nervous stomachs and that was just the supporters. Next on the programme were Kilkenny, they had pipped us in the Leinster final so there was a lot at stake here. There is something about the colours ‘Black and Amber’. Every player tries to raise their game for the challenges of Kilkenny matches. Stormbirds needed this game after that recent Leinster final. 2 wins already today and now Kilkenny the holders!
Laura Morrissey back to her best had 2 early trademark goals, the Stormbirds were flying high. Niamh Byrne, Chloe Rochfort kept Kilkenny at bay throughout the half, well assisted by Sarah Nagle and Eilse O Grady. Mary Cronin and Aoife McKenna started many attacks from deep inside Dublin’s half. 2 points from Kilkenny and and they were threatening. Ailish O Neill was on hand to score a goal a super from a pass from Laura Mulvey. Kilkenny faught back with goal and point, and this as expected would go all the way to the wire. Up steps Eve Keogh, solo run, fine point and Dublin had breathing space 4 points!! Only 2 minutes to go. Final point to Kilkenny, Dublin win on a scoreline Dublin 3 – 2 to Kilkenny 1 - 5
Cork are favoutites and next opposition for the girls. Tired legs, weary, ‘keep drinking the water’ says Aine. Don’t lose focus. We can do it says Aine. Shirley Moloney visits team and wishes them well. Shirley played with Cork and was previous coach to girls, she is now back in Cork and is working with their team. Nice touch from Shirley. A win or draw will do here to get to the final. No dublin team have ever got to the final here. Bad start with early goal from Cork, the girls are playing really well but were rocked by that goal. But almost immediately Ailish O Neill had the ball in the net and it was level, what a tourament Ailish had. Point from Cork. Some great battles throughout the field. Doireann Mullany is outstanding in midfield and never stops running, tackling, blocking, a real leader in this team. Player of the tournament, Niamh Byrne controls every ball as does her corner backs Chloe Rochfort and Blaithin Mc Quillan. Laura Morrissey receives a pass from Shaunagh Harte and takes the short route to to score another goal which put Dublin 2 points ahead. Orla Beagan adds a point. Then Cork scores 2 points. Dublin are a point ahead and time is running out. Then a fantastic save from Sinead Kiernan in the Dubs goals as she makes a name for herself to deny Cork the lead. Sinead is new to Dublin team, but did not look out of place throughout the tournament. Another solo run, and Anne Walsh crashes the ball to the net. Eve Keogh puts icing on the cake with a point. Another final beckons. Final score Dublin 3-2 Cork 1-3
There will be a new name on the cup as it is a Limerick Dublin final. Stretch, this way, that way. Keep loose. Keep drinking. Before Christmas The Stormbirds had set the James Hurley All Ireland as their main goal, are they now about to achieve that goal ?. Limerick had beaten us earlier but we are ready this time. Some players have jobs to do. Watch this girl, watch that girl. We need a good start. Ailish O Neill provides it with a goal. There is a storm raging out there and everyone has to stand tall, this group of girls like this challenge, afterall the are the Stormbirds. A great battle in midfield where Doireann is still running, she said afterwards it was the Cork water. Anna Walsh and Anne Marie Courtney are sticking to their orders. Sarah Nagle and Tess Coyne are linking well on right hand side of pitch. 3 points from Limerick, we are level again. Ailish on hand to score point with pass from Orla Beagan. Half time and the girls are a point ahead. Keep drinking the water. Last 12 minutes. Could we dream, dare we dream. Laura Mulvey continued to be a huge influence up front and scored a gem of a point from way out. Then a point from Limerick. A great defence wins games and Dublin had the very best out there. Niamh Byrne, is everywhere and a huge tribute was paid to her after the game when Lotty described her as ‘Special’ and the best fullback he has ever seen. But back to the game, Chloe Rochfort and Blaithin McQuillan blocked and tackled like their life depended on it. Sarah Nagle and Mary Cronin hurled superbly. Anne Walsh and Anne Marie Courtney passed their tests with flying colours. Shaunagh Harte, Orla Beagan, Eve Keogh, Sophie Lyons, Aoife Mc Kenna all battled for everything. Up pops Laura Morrissey again with another superb goal which gives Dublin some breathing space. Limerick came charging back and then a defining moment, every match has one. Sinead Kiernan between the posts came to the rescue again - job done. Back come Limerick, Sinead on hand again. Its close but its scrambled away. The final whistle, its over and Dublin are champions with a final score Dublin 2-2 Limerick 0-5.
History is made as Dublin win ‘The James Hurley All Ireland Blitz’. Target achieved. Was it worth all the effort and dedication ? ask the girls how they feel now.
Dublin U14 B team win Plate
The Dublin U14 B team arrived in Cork with an aim to bring back the plate trophy to Dublin for a second year running.
The team was down 9 from their normal panel due to other commitments, so a number of new girls were drafted in to help on the day.
Our first game was against a strong Galway team. The girls tried hard but the Galway girls were on form as it was their second game and they were well warmed up. Despite good efforts from the girls, especially Karen Farrell, Niamh McKenna and Vanessa Boland the 20 minutes seemed to pass much too quickly and we lost to a better side. Our two new girls Luisne MacConghail and Roisin Pancorbo of Good Councel fitted in with no problem and were well up to the standard.
Without any break up next were the home team Cork. We started off really well and with newcomer Ashley O’Sullivan outstanding midfield we gave Cork a good battle. We were very unlucky not to score in the first half but it was not from lack of trying from our full forward line of Kate O’Dwyer, Aoife Clancy and Amy Conroy who did great work. Our back line of Niamh Power, Luisne and Laura Kilcoyne were sturdy and prevented the Cork forwards from scoring any goals. Final score Cork 0 – 4 Dublin 0 – 0.
Unfortunately another game lost but we had given Cork their toughest battle yet.
Up next was the plate semi-final against the Limerick team. The Dublin girls were outstanding in that game and were much stronger. Kate and Aine Woods were in top form again and scored some fantastic points. Our captain Aoife Clancy showed great fighting spirit and was always a threat. With only a panel of 20 each player was vital in the win and all played superbly as a team. Another newcomer, Orla Moloney and Niamh Kiernan were outstanding in the backline and didn’t let a ball past them.
The final score was Dublin 2 – 4 to 0 – 1 for Limerick.
We were now into the Plate final and we had an hour to pass. After a bite to eat we all sat out to watch our A team beat Kilkenny and make up for that narrow defeat in the Leinster Final, any this was the big one. Due to some confusion over pitches our final was delayed and we sat out relaxing before the big game!
Up against us in the final was the Dublin U13 A team so the pressure was on for the bragging rights. All the girls encouraged each other and with the confusion over 2 Dublin teams we shouted out ‘Stormbirds’ before hitting the pitch!
The girls have never played as well as they did in that match! Sinead Clinton and Ciara Gibbons never stopped running and the fresh legs of Aisling Moffat and Elizabeth Kiernan proved a winner. Lisa Callan was outstanding in goals all day and Rachel Whyte was up to the challenge in front of Lisa. The team worked great together and never let the younger dubs get into the game. From midfield up the girls ran and ran at the opposition and proved too strong. After great goals from our forwards we never looked back and went on to win a scoreline of 4 -3 to 0 – 1.
It was a great victory for the girls as they brought the plate back to Dublin for a second year running.
Fiona Ní Shúilleabháin and Joan Twomey looks after the B team. Joan, still in her 20’s played for Cork at the highest level and Fiona is part of the Dublin junior squad and they know exactly what it takes to win on the big stage. We are lucky in Dublin to have them in our camp, huge respect from all the girls.
Next up will be Our own Blitz on 17th July when we hope to do it all over again.
So the 2 trophies were brought back to Dublin last night. Well done to all parents and the girls.
Garry Beagan, Lucan PRO
Photos from the James Hurley under 14 All Ireland Blitz
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