Piercestown 6-2
Monaseed 1-0

The scoreline may suggest otherwise but it was very much a game of two halves in this year's Allianz Cumann na mBunscol MiniSevens Camogie Final.
Piercestown shot out of the blocks and had three goals within five minutes. The first came when Amy O Leary passed to Ella O Connor who blasted to the net. Amy nearly had a goal herself seconds later but her shot went just wide. Amy and Ella then combined again for some great play out the field when they set up Ciara O Connor for a handpassed goal that was nearly saved by Carla Branagan in the Monaseed goal. The third goal came when Clodagh Walsh controlled the ball well and turned swiftly to pass to her partner in crime Amy O Leary. The ball was duly hammered into the net and Piercestown were three goals up.

This early dominance continued when Ella O Connor dispossessed Katie Smyth in midfield and drove a low, hard ball into the wind and over the bar. Amy O Leary got in on the act with a point of her own soon after and then for the rest of the half Piercestown continually pressurised the Monaseed defence. This intense pressure was rewarded in the last two minutes of the half when Ella O Connor and Clodagh Walsh both grabbed late goals to bring the halftime scores to 5-2 to 0-0. Monaseed simply could not get past the brilliant defending of Anna Hennessy and Niamh Dunne to even create a chance in this half with both girls displaying excellent first touch and superb high fielding.

Despite the lobsided scoreline, Monaseed firmly refused to surrender and they came out in the second half to do justice to themselves and that they surely did that with a brave performance. Carla Branagan led the way when she made a fantastic save from an Ella O Connor shot in the first minute. Monaseed then went up the field and were unlucky not to get scores through Orla Montague and Katie Smyth. Clodagh Walsh snatched a goal on the counter attack but this was to be Piercestown's only score of the half due in large part to some nifty defending by Leanne Fuller.

Grace O'Halloran made a great solo run and almost scored as the game drew to a close but it unfortunately went wide and it looked like they were going to finish without a score. Monaseed thought differently however and simply refused to give up the fight and in the ninth minute they came closer again when Katie Smyth nearly burst the side netting of the goal. To their great credit, they battled on into the final seconds of the game and created one more chance and for this they got their reward through an excellent Orla Montague goal from a tight angle to draw the second half.

One can only wonder what the game would have been like if the first half was similar to the second but unfortunately Piercestown's first half scores were always going to see them safe and it was with great joy that captain Anna Hennessy stepped up to accept their second cup in a week.

~Seán Óg Whelan
Piercestown: Gemma Ryan, Anna Hennessy, Niamh Dunne, Ciara O Connor, Ella O Conner, Amy O Leary, Clodagh Walsh, Fiona Esmonde, Clare Barrett, Carin Duffy, Camille McGrath, Chloe Reid, Ciara Harrington, Aoife Dempsey
Monaseed: Carla Branagan, Leanne Fuller, Naoisa Hughes, Grace O Halloran, Katie Smyth, Orla Montague, Siobhra Bairead, Aine Tobin, Allanah Dowling Tweet

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