The depleted Blues suffered an 11-point defeat to Thurles Sarsfields in the county minor A Camogie championship on Monday afternoon.
Minor A Camogie Championship
Nenagh Éire Óg 2-4 Thurles Sarsfields 2-15
Who would have guessed that a heavy fog in Krakow, Poland would have any bearing on a minor championship game in Nenagh, but an effect it did have as a large number of our players, on a school trip to the former communist country, were unable to fly home in time for today’s game and were left stranded in the Polish airport. Added to that a bug which affected a number of those players left at home meant we were under strength for today’s encounter.
However, despite all of this our players fought to the end and deserve great credit for the battling qualities they displayed and the end result, while a deserved win for the Mid side, was not a true reflection on the Nenagh girls.
Thurles opened brightly and had three points on the board inside the first eleven minutes before Sarah Quigley was forced into making a great save, unfortunately the rebound fell nicely to the in-rushing Thurles forward who pulled and scored their opening goal. Thurles added two more points to leave the score at Thurles 1-5 Nenagh 0-0 and it looked as if it was going to be a very long day for the home side.
Holly O’Brien settled things when she pointed a free out by the sideline after a foul on Elaine Slattery. This gave Nenagh a little boost and Hazel Coffey doubled Nenagh’s tally with another point two minutes later.
The momentum had temporally swung our way and both Holly O’Brien and Michelle Collins were unfortunate not to find the net after two great solo runs.
Thurles added another point to leave the half-time score: Nenagh Éire Óg 0-2 Thurles Sarsfields 1-6.
The half-time talk from the Nenagh management had the desired effect and the introduction of Maeve Coffey and the positional switch of Alanna Morris to the half-forward line instantly paid dividends.
After the resumption Morris found Coffey with an excellent pass and the county under-16 star split the posts. Nenagh’s tails were up and Morris delivered a long, high and dangerous ball into the heart of the Thurles defence. Full-forward Sarah O’Connor unsettled both the full-back and goalkeeper and the ball ended up in the Thurles net.
Two minutes later Sarah Quigley made an excellent point-blank save, but the resultant ’50 was pointed.
Nenagh were on fire at this stage and following a great run by Meave Coffey, Alanna Morris was unfortunate to see her shot ricochet back off the post. However, Hazel McAuliffe collected the clearance and she tore up the field before finding Morris who made no mistake this time round and scored a great goal. Thurles added two more points before Holly O’Brien pointed a free following a foul on Coffey.
This was to be Nenagh’s last score as the exertions of making their way back into the game and the effects of the bug on some of our players began to tell. Thurles rattled off 1-7 without reply to leave the final score Thurles Sarsfields 2-15 Nenagh Éire Óg 2-4.
Nenagh Éire Óg: Sarah Quigley, Amy Heffernan, Emer Ryan, Kara Ryan Mulqueen, Rachel Spillane, Hazel McAuliffe, Alanna Morris, Zoey Gratton, Michelle Collins, Alicia Hallinan, Holly O’Brien, Elaine Slattery, Mairéad Sheridan, Sarah O’Connor, Hazel Coffey. Subs: Maeve Coffey & Eimear Dight.
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