Tyrone Camogs clinch league honours

Tyrone 3-16  Wicklow 0-10

TYRONE camogs produced a masterclass in playing on the front foot when they claimed a thoroughly warranted 15-point victory over Wicklow in Saturday’s Division Four final at Louth GAA’s Centre of Excellence in Darver.

You could say that Darver is rather exposed to the elements and Tyrone made the most of their significant wind advantage in the first-half, surging into a 1-9 to 0-3 lead at the interval. The question on everyone’s lips at the interval was would it be enough (the breeze was just that strong) but Tyrone dug their heels in and made it nigh on impossible for Wicklow’s attacking threats to exert their influence on proceedings.

With ten minutes remaining, it was evident that it was going to be Tyrone’s day and it was no more than they deserved. They’d played some brilliant camogie, exemplified by the efforts of Edendork star Lara Devlin who scored a whopping 1-7 from play but equally it was the tireless efforts of the entire team that transpired to make this a surprisingly one-sided contest.

Half-backs Grainne McDonald and Una McCann barely put a foot wrong all day, midfielder Oilibhia Farley applied the coup de grace with a superb individual goal late in proceedings while their forwards applied serious pressure on Wicklow’s beleaguered defence in the second-half, ensuring that their opponents couldn’t make hay even with a serious gale at their backs.

This was their second Division Four final in succession but evidently they’ve stepped it up a notch this year; eight players found the scoresheet on Saturday so they seem to be a more well-rounded team now, and hopes will be high that they’ll make their mark in their upcoming championship campaign, but that’s for another day.

They dominated the early exchanges on Saturday, powering to a 1-7 to no score lead by end of the opening quarter.

Their star turn was Lara Devlin, flinging over points and scoring a fabulous individual goal, embarking on a direct run after sterling defensive work from her colleagues and unleashing an unstoppable shot to the net.

Others finding the target early on were Rachel O’Neill and Cara Little and the team’s shot-taking in general was of the highest calibre, whatever about their considerable wind advantage.

For a prolonged spell Wicklow struggled to win any sort of possession from their own restarts and Tyrone took full advantage, but they belatedly got their first score of the day in the 17th minute when Nicole Curran knocked over a point. It could’ve been worse from a Tyrone perspective only for the awareness and composure of Una McCann, who made a goal-line clearance moments before Curran got her point.

Tyrone reasserted themselves with points from Little, one from play and one from a free, but Wicklow had a purple patch of sorts in the closing exchanges of the half, Laura Smyth and Sophie Bermingham leaving it 1-9 to 0-3 at the break.

>body2text<Yes, Wicklow had a mountain to climb in the second-half, but the feeling was that they were in with a decent shout given the weather conditions.

Our worst fears were seemingly confirmed when they got off to a flyer in the second-half, reducing the deficit to a much more manageable six points with scores from Bermingham and Smyth.

It looked like Wicklow would continue to chip away at Tyrone’s lead but that didn’t happen. And why it didn’t happen was in large part due to the sheer resilience of the Tyrone team, who fought ravenously for every possession and every possible opportunity that came their way.

Lara Devlin steadied the ship with two important points into the teeth of the gale, and then came a real hammerblow to Wicklow’s chances as Lauren Fitzgerald scrambled the ball over the line after an enterprising ball in from Kaitlin Gallagher.

Tyrone were once again thoroughly in the ascendancy with a 2-11 to 0-6 lead to their name with twenty minutes remaining. The temptation could’ve been to attempt to shut up shop at the back, but they kept on coming with further points from Little and Gallagher.

Wicklow were living on scraps and converted a couple of soft-ish looking frees, but that alone was never going to cut the mustard given the deficit on the scoreboard.

The jig was up and Tyrone powered over the finish line with points from Gallagher, Devlin and Grainne McDonald, not to mention an exceptional individual goal from Oilibhia Farley who coolly lobbed the keeper. A superb day’s work in every respect.

THE SCORERS

Tyrone

Lara Devlin (1-7), Cara Little (0-4, 0-2f), Oilibhia Farley and Lauren Fitzgerald (1-0 each), Rachel O’Neill and Kaitlin Gallagher (0-2 each) Grainne McDonald (0-1)

Wicklow

Sophie Bermingham (0-4, 2fs, 1 ‘45’), Nicole Curran and Laura Smyth (0-3 each)

THE TEAMS

Tyrone

Eimear Colton, Bronagh Moohan, Aine Cunningham, Grace Daly, Aoife McDonald, Grainne McDonald, Una McCann, Oilibhia Farley, Lara Devlin, Lauren Fitzgerald, Roisin McErlean, Cara Little, Siobhan Donnelly, Rachel O’Neill, Kaitlin Gallagher. Subs: Bronagh Barker for McErlean, Mollie O’Hanlon for Daly, Becky Santos for Fitzgerald, Mairead Donnelly for Little, Grainne Devlin for Moohan.

Wicklow
Caitlin Hughes, Aoife Campbell, Thea Cullen, Alice Mulhall, Ciara Wafer, Aoife Connolly, Shauna O’Shea, Shannagh Goetelen, Sarah Lambe, Laura Smyth, Sophie Bermingham, Daisie Summer Cullen Dunne, Hannah Doyle, Nicole Curran, Emily Tyrrell.