Clonduff 0-12
James Stephens 1-06
Clonduff are the AIB All-Ireland Intermediate Camogie champions following a three-point win over James Stephens in Croke Park on Saturday evening.
Following a dramatic run to the final through the county and provincial championships and the All-Ireland series, the city club fell at the final hurdle on a bitterly cold day in GAA Headquarters.
Clonduff took the lead with an early free from corner forward Paula O’Hagan before the other corner forward Sarah Louise Graffin doubled their advantage with an excellent point from play.
Sophie O’Dwyer responded for James Stephens from a dead ball situation but O’Hagan and Katie Byrne both grabbed quickfire scores to give their side a 0-05 to 0-01 lead after 20 minutes.
John Scott’s Leinster champions needed to gain some momentum in the game and they did just that when O’Dwyer fired it beyond Clonduff goalkeeper Katie McGilligan to score the first goal of a highly competitive opening period.
The Village’s star forward levelled with a long distance free right on the stroke of half-time to leave the scoreboard reading James Stephens 1-02 to 0-05 Clonduff at the interval.
It was Sarah Louise Graffin who nudged the Ulster club into the lead with her second point of the game less than a minute into the second half.
A third O’Hagan free gave them a two-point advantage and they kicked on from there as a string of points from Kieran McCourty’s team moved them into a 0-11 to 1-05 lead.
Both sides exchanged late scores but the Kilkenny outfit could not find the goal they needed to get back on level terms as Clonduff were deservedly crowned All-Ireland Intermediate Camogie champions for 2022.
