On Saturday, London camogie hosted two junior semi-finals and the final round of the senior camogie championship with all matchups exemplifying the growth of the sport in the London region. 

The Croydon-Tara junior semi-final was one of the finest exhibitions of camogie seen to date in Greenford, with both teams fighting into overtime for the win and the chance to advance into the final. 

Next, John Mitchel's Camógs demonstrated their skill against Green Isle with a massive eight goals and 12 points, advancing to an October 5 Championship final against the Taras junior team at Greenford.

Finally, the final round of the senior championship gave Croydon a solid win against Fr Murphy's, despite a number of Croydon players suffering a loss to the Tara's juniors just minutes before the senior match.  The senior championship semi-finals will take place on September 27 at Greenford, featuring Tara vs. Fr Murphy's and Croydon vs. Fullen Gaels.     

Croydon 1-5 Tara 5-4 (AET)

For the second week in a row, Croydon and Tara came head to head in Greenford on Saturday morning in the Junior Camogie championship semi-final. With Tara winning the junior league title the week before, this was bound to be a competitive matchup.  Sixty minutes of cracking camogie wasn't enough to decide the winner and only in extra time did the Tara girls emerge victorious.

The first half saw some strong defending from both teams.  Croydon put the pressure on the Tara back line very early in the game. In the first two minutes Tara corner back, Emer Kelly was forced to clear the ball out of her own end line to give Croydon their first 45. Croydon mid fielder, Caoilinn Ni Neill put the sliotar between the posts to put the first score on the board. Five minutes later, the pressure was still on the Tara back line when corner back, Dee Ryan made an excellent save to give Croydon another 45, which Caoilinn Ni Neill again, slotted over the bar. 

With Croydon two minutes up after seven minutes, Tara full back, Niamh Murphy, cleared an excellent ball down to centre forward, Eilish O Neill. O Neill rounded two Croydon defenders and took a great shot which was only millimetres wide. The next ten minutes saw some great attacks from both sides, but because of some excellent defending there were no scores converted.

The Croydon girls were saved more than once in this period by their centre back, Claire Curtain, who made some excellent tackles and clearances. Lisa Creamer was unlucky not to get a goal five minutes before the break but Croydon goalie Bridget Hehir stopped it on the line.  The Tara girls got their first score 25 minutes into the game when Anna Nyhan put a 45 between the posts.  Croydon responded two minutes later when Tara conceded a free inside their own half. Ni Neill again stepped up and put another point on the score board for the South Londoners.  The first half ended with a Croydon lead 0-3 to 0-1.

Following halftime, both teams came out with a new burst of energy. A foul on Emer Kelly in the first five minutes saw Joni Traynor place an excellent free into the hand of Tara mid fielder Orla Tynan. Tynan picked out Gillian Dennehy who was making a run towards goal. Dennehy didn't need to think twice and stuck the ball in the back of the net to give Tara the lead for the first time in the game. Croydon responded five minutes later with a point to equalize. Half way through the second half, Croydon won a free from their back line which Caoilinn Ni Neill dropped into the square. It was caught by the Croydon full forward Niamh Keogh and struck to the back of the net, giving Tara's goalie Emma Dunlea no chance.  Croydon followed that up with another point, putting them three up with five minutes to go.

The girls in blue and white weren't willing to accept a loss and with four minutes to go, Anna Nyhan controlled the ball excellently and let off a great pass to Dennehy.  Dennehy spotted Mary Fenton in front of the goal and hit a high ball in. Fenton realized she had no time to waste and volleyed the ball, rattling the back of the net.  The great goal by Fenton left the two teams tied at full time, leading to a required extra time to decide the championship final draw.

In the first five minutes of extra time, Tara's Fenton dropped a ball in to Dennehy who scored a great goal from the ground. Anna Nyhan scored a point from a free two minutes later, leaving the West Londoners up by four. Excellent defending by Tara full back, Niamh Murphy made it very difficult for Croydon to retaliate. Just before the half in extra time, Joni Traynor dropped a high ball into the square to Lisa Creamer. Creamer struck it on the ground putting Tara ahead by seven at the break.

The Croydon girls made some great attacks on goal but were denied by Tara Corner backs, Dee Ryan and Emer Kelly. With four minutes to go, Tara mid fielder, Sarah Quinn cleared a ball down the pitch to substitute June Donnely who added another goal to the Tara score line. A final point by Tara's Orla Tynan in the last two minutes made it clear there was no coming back for Croydon.

The full time score after extra time was 5-4 to 1-5, it was a fantastic display of camogie from both sides. The Taras will face John Mitchells in the championship final October 5 in Greenford.

John Mitchel's Camógs 8-12 Green Isle 1-02

 

Player of the match: Michelle Ni Fhiannachta

Mitchel's Ladies got back to their winning ways yesterday in Greenford against Green Isle, earning a championship final vs league winners Tara.

Midfield pairing of Finnerty and Orla Murphy set the tone from the start dominating the area and setting up attack after attack. Murphy covering huge ground and Finnerty winning and reversing every clearance from the south Londoners allowed the deadly duo of Noelle Devlin and Aoife Murphy to cause havoc in attack with Murphy goaling in the 4th minute of the game. 

In defence, Lisa Kearns and Rebecca Molloy were called upon early to break down the Londoners attack to great effect. Green Isle did settle into the game midway through the half and only for Eva Hicks in goal and Alice Quinn at full back, would have had a few more scores.

Half time didn't deter the Mitchel's performance with Emma Ní Cearúil dominating at No 6 and eventually rewarded with a long range point. The ever dependable Bernadette Cannon continued her great form this season at wing back. Footballer come camóg Louise Ní Ruídeachaín grew in confidence as the game went on, eventually scoring a goal after playing provider for earlier scores. Team captain Clara Ni Lionnain finished the game strongly at full forward with a superb solo goal. The deadly duo, Noelle Devlin and Aoife Murphy brought in 6 goals and 9 points between them.

The team will be underdogs when they meet kingpins of London camogie Tara on the 5th of October in Greenford.

Senior Camogie
Croydon 3-10 Fr. Murphy's 1-7

 

Croydon ended the group stages of the championship with a hard fought win against Fr. Murphys. Fielding six of the Junior team who lost the junior semi-final a half hour previously, it was tough for the Croydon girls to get back out and play another game.

Croydon opened the scoring with a point from Una McGouran from play. This was followed up with a point from Elaine Dunphy from a free. Murphy's responded with two points from play before Croydon struck for a goal from Michaela Murtagh on the 12th minute. This was followed up on the 14th minute with another goal. Murphy's responded with a point before Croydon finished up the scoring in the first half with a point from a free from Dunphy to leave the half time score Croydon 2-3 Fr. Murphy's 0-3.

The second half opened with Croydon scoring a point and Murphy's scoring a goal and a point to leave three points between the teams. This was followed by a point by Murphy's and a point by Croydon from a free from Dunphy to leave the scores at Croydon 2-5 Murphy's 1-5. Murphy's scored the next point before Croydon responded with a goal from Murtagh. Murphy's responded with a point before Croydon responded with five unanswered points from play with McGouran (2), Elaine Egan (1), Murtagh (1) and Averil Glynn (1) scoring. This left the final score as Croydon 3-10 to Fr. Murphy's 1-7.

This was a solid performance from Croydon who had six players who had just played and lost the junior semi-final after extra time. A better display will be needed in the semi-final if the South London team are to reach the final.

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