By 
ULSTER CAMOGIE CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS
TYRONE teams are chasing Ulster club camogie honours on three fronts during November and first up for an Ulster final assignment this weekend are the camogs of Eire Og An Charraig Mhor.
Eire Og won their Ulster Junior B semi-final narrowly at the weekend over Crosserlough and they now meet Derrynoose in Saturday’s title decider (November 8),, venue and time to be confirmed.
The Carrickmore side are making massive strides on the camogie front and they are sixty minutes away from back-to-back provincial titles.
They claimed their first ever Bridie McMenamin title last season and they’ve already shown they’re more than capable of competing at a higher grade.
In between times, they also won their first ever Tyrone Intermediate title, so they’re riding the crest of a wave and they’ll hope that palpable sense of momentum will help drive them to a second successive provincial title.
Their manager Declan Sherlock said target number one this year was the Tyrone Championship, and now that box has been ticked, it’s all about making their mark in the province.
“Last year we won the Bridie McMenamin for the first time in the history of the club. There were great celebrations but when we got together at the start of this season, we wanted to have a new goal instead of just plodding away.
“That goal was to win an Intermediate in Tyrone, and we didn’t look beyond that. We beat both Dungannon and Derrylaughan in the league, and that was a big deal for us, and then we came out on the right-side of a four-point win against Derrylaughan in the county final.
“Now we find ourselves in the Ulster final for the second year in a row, at two different grades, so it’s a very exciting time for the club.”
Carrickmore players to watch out for this weekend are Aoibhinn Daly and Sorcha Gormley, who was player of the match for the Tyrone Ladies in their All-Ireland Intermediate final win earlier in the season.
Shercock added: “Crosserlough was a tough game for us. It can be difficult at this time of year – the ground has got a bit soft, there’s not much bounce of the ball. But it’s the same for everyone and we just have to adapt to the conditions.
“The girls dug really deep, it was a bit of a slug-fest. We played against the wind in the first half, then scored another six points after the break.
“We’d have liked to have scored more, but we restricted them to just one point from a free in the second-half, so our defence was very miserly which was good.”
Meanwhile Eglish also have an appealing Ulster final up ahead on Saturday (November 15th, 1pm) at Pearse Og Park (Armagh) as the St Patrick’s side take on Crossmaglen in the quest for an Ulster intermediate club championship title.
Brocagh, meantime, will encounter St Brigid’s in what should be a keenly contested the Bridie McMenamin Shield Ulster club semi-final this Sunday (November 9, 1pm) in Pearse Park. The loughshore squad received a bye from the quarter-finals as they continue to chase silverware.
Ulster Junior B Championship Semi-final
Eire Og 0-12 Crosserlough 2-4
Eire Og An Charraig Mhor displayed real resilience and landed key point taking opportunities as they shaded this semi-final tie with Crosserlough from Cavan at St Colmcille Park.
The home camogs, by virtue of their solid overall team performance, earned the right to meet Derrynoose from Armagh in Saturday’s Ulster B championship silverware showpiece as they strive to maintain momentum.
The path to Saturday’s final included a high hurdle very much in evidence by the strong challenge supplied by Crosserlough. The Breffni camogs certainly threw down a determined gauntlet to the St Colmcille camogs as a competitive and skilful game unfolded.
A brace of Crosserlough goals, netted by Shauna Lynch and Katie Reilly, gave the Tyrone team plenty to contend with during the first 30 minutes. Niamh McElduff led the score charge in response for Eire Og with some well judged points. Aoibhinn Daly, Leanne McKernan and Sorcha Gormley also tagged on efforts.
Crosserlough led at the break by 2-3 to 0-6 but Eire Og turned round with something of a swirling breeze behind them. The St Colmcille camogs managed to pick off six second half points plus some good midfield and defensive play helped restrict Crosserlough’s tally in this half to just a single point.
Niamh McElduff landed a few more tidy points on behalf of Eire Og plus Aoibhinn Daly also found the target as Sorcha Gormley, Ciara Clarke, Orlaith McElduff and company continued to make important contributions.
Eire Og keeper Tara Haughey, meanwhile, produced some decent saves to prevent Crosserlough getting a third goal.
The game remained very close but Niamh McElduff sent over her sixth point overall as Eire Og moved two in front late on. Crosserlough tried to respond but it was Eire Og’s day.