NACB Senior Camogie Final: Eire Og v Shamrocks

Eire Og 4-7 Shamrocks (SF) 4-2

Eire Og regained their place as kingpins of North American Camogie with a well deserved victory over Shamrocks of San Francisco in the Final. The early morning conditions were blustery and not the most ideal, but both teams coped well with the conditions. The game was keenly contested, and after a close first half, Eire Og displayed some fine shooting and pulled away in the final 15 minutes.

DUCK! Referee and Shamrocks alike had to duck as Fiona Gohery plays the ball.

Eire Og got off to a fine start to the game. The locals established an early goal and 2 points lead before the Shamrocks opened their account through the stick of Ciara Moran. Eire Og struck right back with a goal and two points and led by 2-3 to 0-1 with 10 minutes to go in the half. Fiona Gohery converted a penalty after Riona Daly was brought down, and shortly afterwards Gohery pointed from a 65. The Shamrocks were hardly out of it however, and Sharon O’Brien was forced into making a great save. The San Francisco side kept pushing and had a goal disallowed for an infraction in the square. Eventually the visiting side were rewarded with a goal from Suzette Bradley and soon afterwards another three pointer from Moran. At the half Eire Og held a slender 2 point lead.

Shamrocks continued to fight and made the Eire Og defence work hard.

Shamrocks leveled matters two minutes into the second half. After Gohery had put Eire Og three points ahead, Rebecca Bienat netted for Shamrocks. Eire Og took advantage of the slight breeze and proceeded to put some lovely scores over the bar. Gohery pointed twice and Sarah Kelly pulled a score back for the visitors. The intensity rose as the game entered its final quarter. Every ball was eagerly contested. However after Gohery put a fantastic point over the bar from her weak side, Eire Og began to pull away. Maureen Meehan followed with a goal and holding a five point lead, Eire Og found themselves having to put some work in on the defensive end. Ann Greally moved into the back line and worked hard, as did Aodeen Snee and Sharon O’Brien was called upon to pull off some saves. When Caroline Hanley, and Riona Daly each pointed from distance and Caroline Hanley scored a late goal, it was all over. A fine overall display from the home team as the trophy remains in Boston.

Eire Og: S. O’Brien, A. Snee, N. O’Neill, C. Hanniffey, E. Dolan, M. Keane, N. Daly, M. McElroy, C. Hanley, F. Gohery, R. Daly, A. Greally, M. Meehan. Shamrocks: G. O’Sullivan, S. Bradley, D. Ryan, S. Kelly, K. Burke, C. Moran, S. Boyle, M. Keogh, R. Biernat, D. Cunningham, S. Lynch, A. Bryant, A. Morrissey.

By Rory O'Donnell

Blues Junior B's out, Eire Og Advance to Camogie final

The news from Canton on the local front is that the Shannon Blues bowed out to Detroit in the junior B football by a score of 2-11 to 0-14. The Blues did not get off to the best start with only 10 players to start the game.

The Eire Og Camogie players got a well earned win over St. Mary's Chicago. The win puts Eire Og into the final, while St. Mary's have to play San Francisco on Saturday to see who will meet the local side for the championship on Sunday. St. Mary's were leading at half time by a score of 1-6 to 2-1, and were looking good heading into the break, but Eire Og battled hard in the second half to go ahead through a Maureen Meehan goal followed by a Caroline Hanley point. Riona Daly scored a second goal, and Eire Og added another point. From Sharon O'Brien in goal, who made several invaluable saves, through Fiona Gohery, to Meehan at full forward, the entire Eire Og team put in a great effort to hold St. Mary's scoreless in the second half and go on to win. The final score was 4-3 to 1-6.

I also managed to catch a glimpse of a Junior C hurling game on the main field between Michael Cusacks from Chicago and a team from San Francisco. I was a little surprised to be informed that all of the players were American. The standard was better than one would have expected at Junior C level, regardless of where the players were from and the game was keenly contested. Late in the game the referee even had to deal with a bit of a free for all, not to be condoned, but perhaps an indication that the Americans are not taking up the game for some kind of cultural experience, they want to actually beat each other. A look at the schedule for that competition is revealing in itself, teams are coming from outside the traditional Irish strongholds. Portland Maine, Akron Ohio, Allentown Pennsylvania, Concord New Hampshire, Milwaukee Wisconson, and Denver Colorado to mention some. It seems that contrary to popular opinion, it is hurling that grabs the attention with the Americans, not the football.

Now, some may feel that in order to hone your skills at the highest possible level, you have to be admitted to some kind of hurling version of Hogwarts that, it is said, is located in the bowls of Kilkenny Castle and only accessible though a secret passage revealed to a select few of the best young Kilkenny hurlers. Also, that in there, Brian Cody plays the role of head sorceror and teaches these young apprentices how to put as fine a point on their hurling skills that the Muggles who live outside Kilkenny can never aquire. From what I saw Friday evening, the skills can be learned by anybody - granted they need to start at a young enough age - but the coaching in hurling is going on with youngsters from North East to South West. Maybe Kilkenny would be a bit much to take on at this point, but who knows, in a few years...