The final round of the St Anne’s Togher (Co. Louth) indoor Camogie tournament took place recently - John Duffy reports.
The action started with the U 8 and U 11 fixtures. Although non-competitive, these games produced some magnificent team and individual performances.
There certainly is hope for the future of Camogie in this part of the world with wonderful performances from the girls in the green and gold of St Anne’s with the youthful Megan Connor voted one of the most skillful players of the tournament at U 8 level. We also had the magnificent and always brave Keela Cosgrove recognised for her efforts at U 11 level.
U 15 is where the competition was. Navan O Mahonys had gone into the final round of fixtures in an unassailable position due to a massive points difference at the top of the tournament table with only St Anne’s left to play. St Anne’s were in second place but with only 2 points to spare ahead of Mattock Camogie Club (Collon) who were about to go up against St Bride’s. This all set up an interesting last evening for the second and third spot. To secure the second spot St Anne’s would need to either beat Navan or hope that St. Brides could do us a favour and take at least one point out of their draw against Mattock.
Despite Navan’s reputation and standing, the St Anne's U 15s were well up for the challenge despite being a player down from the start. With Navan’s 7 up against the 6 from Togher, the game started well and the St Anne’s girls played out of their skins but as time went by and fatigue began to set in Navan began to impose their dominance close to the end. The St Anne’s team spirit was exemplified by the commitment of the skipper Lauren Coyle who took a really hard impact with about 10 minutes to go but refused to leave the pitch. After a few running repairs she was back literally leading from the front in her place on the forward line. Despite suffering defeat, we are really proud of this special bunch of young women having found it within themselves to finish their final game with real class, playing for each other right up to the final whistle.
A short awards ceremony followed where our young referees were first up for recognition. Well done to Katie Mc Ardle, Layah Maher, Roisin Murphy, Niamh Connor and Lucy Traynor all of whom officiated at U 8 and U 11 level during the tournament.
Next up first, second and third in the U15 category.
Next question, what was the score between St Brides and Mattock ? All we can say is congratulations to St Brides on their draw with Mattock which of course resulted in Joseph O Reilly of IFM (tournament sponsor) placing second place medals around the necks of Woods, Keeva Rendall, Layah Maher, Niamh Connor, Roisin Murphy, Lucy Traynor and of course Lauren Coyle. The whole St Anne’s family are exceptionally happy for the girls. Perhaps the happiest member of the family is Marcus Dennehy, their coach for the last number of seasons who has been instrumental in moulding them into the players they have become.
Next to find out who would be named most skilful player at U 15. No luck for St Anne’s in third place which went over Collon direction. Then there is surprise in the face of the aforementioned Lauren Coyle as she is named in second place. Of Course first place went to the Royal County but given the dominance of the boynesiders that wasn’t a big surprise. We're delighted for Lauren.
All in all it was a very successful tournament for St Anne’s with all our underage players getting great experience and opportunities to learn.
St Anne’s would like to again thank the teams behind the teams which includes first and foremost parents who made sure players got to games.
Thanks also to our own committee, our referees and our Sponsors, Industrial & Farm Machinery, Ltd.
We would like to congratulate the 2018 U15 winners:
- 1st Place Navan O’Mahony’s
- 2nd Place St. Anne’s
- 3rd Place Mattock
The Outstanding Player Awards in 2018 were:
U8:
- 1st Megan Connor, St. Anne’s
- Joint 2nd Caoimhe Dooley, Inniskeen & Anna Quinn, St. Fechins
- 3rd Holly Murray, St. Kevins
U11:
- 1st ` Selva Branigan, St. Fechins
- Joint 2nd Keela Cosgrove, St. Anne’s & Grace King, St. Kevins
- Joint 3rd Alice Kearns, Mattock & Emma Kierans, Inniskeen
U15:
- 1st Aine Donegan, Navan O’Mahony’s
- 2nd Lauren Coyle, St. Anne’s
- 3rd Megan Malone, Mattock