Sciath Aoife Ulster Schools’ Camogie Final
St Malachy’s Castlewellan 4-10
St Patrick’s Dungiven 1-4
By Séamas McAleenan
A HAT-TRICK of goals in the opening 20 minutes from Saorlaith McAleenan helped St Malachy’s Castlewellan capture a first ever Sciath Aoife camogie title at Sarsfield’s Belfast on Friday past.
There was little to separate the teams in terms of possession during that period, but McAleenan’s accuracy opened a gap of 3-3 to a single point from Caoimhe Feeney, and St Patrick’s were in trouble against a team that was really growing in confidence.
Apart from McAleenan, a roving corner-forward, Castlewellan had stars in Rua Devlin and Clodagh McCay in half-back, midfielders Grace O’Reilly and Niamh Brennan, and Enya Johnston at half-forward. They also had a good skill level and a strong work ethic that was assisted by their early scoring.
St Patrick’s took far too long to get into the game despite the fine play from Teagan Anderson, Caoimhe Feeney and Leah Colgan, with Amy Deighan a huge presence up front. St Malachy’s tuned in on danger woman Deighan and, apart from a burst before the break, her influence was largely curtailed.
McAleenan opened the scoring with a goal in the third minute from her team’s first attack, and then placed Enya Johnston for a quick point. Her influence on the game grew with a second goal in the ninth minute. Although Caoimhe Feeney grabbed an excellent point for Dungiven in the next attack, Johnston pointed for the second time before McAleenan completed her hat-trick in the 18th minute.
Dungiven’s confidence was taking a hit and they badly needed a score. Up stepped Amy Deighan to produce a goal and two points inside three minutes, with Kate Doherty making the break to find her for the goal after 23 minutes. However, Castlewellan captain Grace O’Reilly sent over a fine solo point right on half-time to leave her side 3-4 to 1-3 ahead.
On the re-start, the Kilcoo midfielder fired over the opening three points of the second half to keep Dungiven in check. The game was over as a contest midway through the half when Clodagh McCay’s effort from 40 metres took an awkward bounce for St Malachy’s fourth green flag. McAleenan and O’Reilly (two) quickly added points.
In fairness to the north Derry school, they kept battling away and Teagan Anderson hit a consolation score a few minutes from time.
This was St Malachy’s third Ulster camogie final of the school year and they were pretty happy to add Sciath Aoife to their earlier success in Sciath Bhríde.
TEAMS
St Malachy’s: Keva Connell, Kathleen McKay, Chloe O’Hare, Kayla Turley, Aoife Burns, Rua Devlin, Clodagh McCay, Grace O’Reilly (capt), Niamh Brennan, Enya Johnston 0-2, Abbi McCabe, Lily O’Hare, Saorlaith McAleenan, Caoimhe McCartan, Shayna Gribben.
Sub: Meadhbh McEvoy for S Gribben (35).
St Patrick’s: Tiarna O’Kane, Dearbhla Hasson, Kate Doherty, Leah Colgan, Caoimhe Feeney, Teagan Anderson, Cassie Farren, Dearbhla McKenna, Amy Deighan, Mollie McAteer, Hollie McManus, Roisin McGuigan, Sophia McCorriston, Jane McGuinness, Sienna McManus.
Subs: Lana Hazlett for D McKenna (22), Eva McLaughlin for M McAteer (39).
SCORERS
St Malachy’s: S McAleenan 3-1, C McCay 1-0, G O’Reilly 0-7 (1f), E Johnston 0-2.
St Patrick’s: A Deighan 1-2, C Feeney and T Anderson 0-1 each.
