On a sun-soaked Sunday afternoon at Young Irelands GAA grounds in Gowran, five new champions were crowned as the 2023 KCLR Cumann na mBunscoil camogie series drew to a close.
Action started on Monday evening with Bennettsbridge defeating Danesfort to claim the Roinn E title, meaning Sunday would see the finals of the Roinn A through D and Roinn F deciders.
The first game of the day saw Conahy take on Moneenroe who proved too strong on the day, turning a 6-4 to 0-2 lead at half time into a 9-6 to 0-4 win at the final whistle.
As scores would suggest and as is often the case with schools camogie, you’ll find more goals than points in games and plenty of ground hurling involved but the day’s second game, a 12.30pm throw-in between Tullaroan and Paulstown/Goresbridge proved to be a much tighter affair. Tulloroan’s last final win game in the Roinn C decider in 2019 and while they may not have had success on Sunday, credit has to go to goalkeeper Ailish Doheny, deputising for the day, who pulled off a string of top-drawer saves to keep Tullaroan ahead early on and very much in the game to the end.
At halftime in the Roinn D final, Tullaroan held a three-point lead, going into the break 1-3 to 1-0 ahead but Paulstown/Goresbridge battled back well in the second half, coming from 2-4 to 1-1 down to tie the game at 2-4 apiece and force extra time. After two five-minute periods, the Barrow Rangers collective were crowned winners, 3-6 to 3-4.
St. Aidan’s (Kilmanagh) are this year’s Roinn C champions, recording a 4-8 shutout win over Freshford in the middle game of the day. That was followed by the Roinn B final between Coon/Muckalee and Tullogher but the girls from the north end of the county were hungry for scores and put 6-12 on the scoreboard to secure the cup.
The day’s final game went to Clara and Bunscoil McAuley Rice, who were contesting their second successive Roinn A decider and third in five years. It was all about ground hurling for Clara who were 5-0 to 0-2 up by halftime, and while Callan hit a late burst, St. Colman’s National School would finish up 9-1 to 2-5 winners.
You can hear more reaction from the KCLR Cumann na mBunscoil finals on this week’s Camán Caint camogie podcast.
