Camogs battle bravely in Tipp defeat

Tyrone 1-8 Tipperary 1-27

TYRONE tried hard in this All-Ireland series group match at home to Tipperary in Garvaghey but the visiting camogs had their point scoring boots firmly on during the contest.

A 27-point return plus a goal gave the Munster side control of this sun-splashed Saturday encounter as Tyrone endeavoured to stay in contention. It was 1-13 to 1-3 midway through and Tipperary continued to pick off points with regularity in the second 30 minutes as well.

The host camogs were defeated by Armagh in their opening round robin game seven days before. They faced another side here who displayed plenty of accuracy within range of the posts but Tyrone still showed spirit.

The sides traded early points through Ciara Brennan for Tipperary and Roisin McErlean on behalf of the Red Hand camogs. Tipperary then tagged on pointed efforts from Jenny Grace and Sinead Meagher.

Forceful running at the Tipperary defence by Cara Little yielded a penalty that she sent just wide before Roisin McErlean hoisted over a fine point for Tyrone after 13 minutes.

Anna Fahie, Jillanne Quirke, Jenny Grace and Sinead Meagher landed subsequent points as the Munster team built up their score tally.

Grace and Meagher had further away scores but Tyrone bounced back on 23 minutes when Lauren Fitzgerald found Roisin O’Neill McKee who in turn delivered a low drive to the Tipperary net. That left the scores standing at 0-9 to 1-2.

Ciara Brennan pointed in reply, with Jenny Grace, Emma Flanagan and Anna Fahie landing efforts to complement an Amy Quinlisk goal before the break. Tyrone faced a 1-13 to 1-3 deficit against a Tipperary team who were not missing much.

The host camogs had that ten-point gap to try and bridge as the second half got underway. Tipperary pressed forward in search of additional scores but Tyrone’s defence worked overtime through blocking and disciplined tackling to blunt at least some of the away team’s attacking potency.

Tipperary, though, continued to tag on points from a mixture of play and placed positions. Jenny Grace, Sinead Meagher and Ciara Brennan maintained their prominence on the point taking front for the Munster visitors.

Tyrone still forged forward themselves and Roisin McErlean contributed some tidy point conversions plus Lara Devlin had a point to complement sterling approach work. Tyrone tried to turn the tide and admirably kept up the revs right to the closing whistle.

THE SCORERS

Tyrone

Roisin McErlean 0-5(4f), Roisin O’Neill McKee 1-0, Lara Devlin 0-2, Samantha McKillen 0-1

Tipperary

Jenny Grace 0-7(5f), Sinead Meagher 0-5, Ciara Brennan 0-4, Amy Quinlisk 1-2, Jillanne Quirke 0-4, Anna Fahie 0-2, Emma Flanagan 0-1 Laura Shinners 0-1, Gillian McKenna 0-1

THE TEAMS

Tyrone

Eimear Colton, Bronagh Moohan, Nicola McKiver, Bronagh Barker, Aoife McDonald, Meaghan Clarke, Una McCann, Oilibhia Farley, Aine Cunningham, Lara Devlin, Grainne McDonald, Roisin McErlean, Cara Little, Lauren Fitzgerald, Roisin O’Neill McKee. Subs: Siobhan Donnelly, Rosie Kerr, Blathnait Kerr, Samantha McKillen

Tipperary

Laura Leenane, Lorna Ryan, Ciara Ryan, Maria Connolly, Gemma Fox, Sophie Pembroke, Lily Fahie, Amy Quinlisk, Anna Fahie, Emma Flanagan, Jillanne Quirke, Grace Moloney, Eva O’Dwyer, Sinead Meagher, Jenny Grace. Subs: Orla O’Brien, Ciara Brennan, Laura Shinners, Gillian McKenna

Referee: Ronan Carroll, Louth