April 12th ‘11
Castleblayney take Back To Back Senior Blitz Title
Castleblayney 1- 7
Clontibret 1- 3
“Player of the tournament” Eileen Mc. Elroy lead her side to victory when she lay claim to all but one of her sides total scores when they defeated Clontibret in the Blitz Final in Truagh on Sunday last.
Played in Blazing sunshine Castleblayney got off to a good start in the first game when they outplayed Inniskeen in all areas of the field. Amber Lam opened the scoring when she converted a 45 in the first minute of the game. Aine Mc. Entee was denied an early goal when her shot was deflected over the bar by the Inniskeen Goalkeeper. Eileen Mc. Elroy widened the gap with three successive points before the half time whistle.
Inniskeen left it a bit late in clawing their way back but were still facing a deficit at the end of the second half.
Castleblayney 1-7
Inniskeen 0-3
The Truagh V Clontibret match finally got underway a little later than planned when the appointed Referee failed to show and Aidan Kerr took control of the whistle. Mairead Mc. Carron scored the first point of the game after 5 mins and Marie Greenan cancelled it out four minutes later. Orlaith Boyle put Clontibret ahead when she shot low and hard to the corner of the net.
The Clontibret Triplet repeated her scoring ability at the start of the second half when once again she got one past the Truagh Goalkeeper. Truagh ‘s Sharon Mc. Quillan converted a free and Marie Greenan finished with a point for Clontibret.
Clontibret 2-2
Truagh 0-2
Castleblayney then defeated Truagh in a low scoring match to book a place in the final.
Castleblayney 0-4
Truagh 0-1
Simultaneously Clontibret defeated Inniskeen to put their side forward to meet Castleblayney in the Final.
Castleblayney got off to a good lead when Amber Lam got a point from free and Eileen Mc. Elroy soloed the length of the field and tapped one over. Clontibret’s Eleanor Mc. Quaid replied in the 7th minute and Mc. Elroy gave a repeat performance , this time past the goalkeeper. A point for both teams left Clontibret trailing 0-2 to 1-3 at the interval.
With just a minute from throw in Marie Greenan had narrowed the deficit when she spotted a gap in the Blayney defence to raise the green flag for Clontibret. Mc. Elroy completed the scoring for Blayney when she added four more points to their tally. Marie Greenan converted a’45 in injury time for Clontibret.
In presenting Blayney Captain Roisin Mc. Kenna with the All County Blitz Cup Geraldine Clarke, Chairperson of Monaghan County Board paid tribute to all the teams who took part in the first competition of the year. She thanked the Truagh Club for hosting the competition and also thanked referee, Pat Walshe and Aidan Kerr for standing in at short notice.
Kathleen Woods, Chairperson of Ulster Council proceeded to present Eileen Mc. Elroy with “Player of the Tournament”
Poc Fada
Immediately afterwards the County Poc Fada competition was held to determine who would represent Monaghan in the Ulster Final in June. Marie Greenan, Clontibret emerged victorious and we wish her every success.
Marie Greenan on behalf of all the Clubs thanked the host club Truagh for the wonderful food they provided for everyone on the day.
Players Forum
Catherine O’Hara from Antrim who was defeated in her bid for President Elect at Congress, Ulster Chairperson, Kathleen Woods and Armagh County Player Mairead Shortt facilitated a Players Forum in the Truagh Complex afterwards for all the teams.
County Team
Monaghan County Squad are laced with quite a few injuries leading into their first outing of the season on Saturday next when they take on old rivals Cavan in the first round of the Ulster Junior Championship. Cavan who hit a high note when they put Monaghan away in an one sided encounter on their home ground in last years Ulster final and are on a roll this Season since they moved up a Division in the All Ireland series and have a number of wins under their belt to date. Venue and time TBA.
Club News
Clontibret Camogie News
It was a very tired, but well-satisfied, bunch of players who returned home from the Senior Blitz on Sunday evening. Having defeated both Truagh and Inniskeen they qualified for the final against Castleblayney. However, the fact that they just had the bare 15 – no substitutes! – who had played in the 2 previous matches meant that tiredness eventually caught up with our girls and a 4 point defeat ensued. Congratulations to Castleblayney on retaining the title. Much thanks is due to the Truagh club who really raised the bar in terms of hosting and hospitality and contributed enormously to the success of the day!
For Clontibret the Blitz is always an important opportunity to blend in some younger players to our senior panel and well done to Demi Moen, Amy Moen and ‘The Triplets’ – Aoife, Orlaith and Ailbhe Boyle – who gave a superb account of themselves in every match. Indeed Orlaith ranked among the highest scorers for the team!
Best wishes to Karen Boyle, Catherine Tomany and Hannah Tedore who have been studying very hard recently in preparation for French and Irish orals.
The senior team takes on Derrynoose later this week in the ‘Premier League’ in Armagh. That should be an interesting encounter!!
On Tuesday, 19 of our primary school members in Scoil Mhuire travelled to the Phoenix Centre, Carrickmacross, where they enjoyed a feast of Camogie. Many thanks to Marie Greenan and Shauna Finnegan for their help. Thanks also to Linda Gormley who helped with the Beginners Group last week.
As a number of senior players, led by the Club Cathaoirleach, Mary McQuaid, have entered the Flora Ladies Mini-Marathon, sponsorship cards have been issued to all club members. Please try to complete your card as soon as possible.
Finally, and belatedly, ‘Happy 21st’ to Tara McElvaney who flew home from Manchester for her birthday bash recently. A great celebration by all accounts!!
Truagh
Seniors
Training continues tomorrow at 6.30. Our first league game is on this coming Tuesday the 19th of April. This is a home game for us and we take on Clontibret. We need a full turn out so please make the effort to be there.
Blitz
Congratulations to Castleblayney on winning the county blitz last Sunday and hard luck to our girls. Well done to Emma, Karen, Maggie and Eilish who made their debut at the blitz and played very well.
Juveniles
Juvenile training on Saturday at 11am. New players are very welcome. Orla, Deirdre and Catherine are on duty this week.
Lucky Square
Congratulations to Kitty Mc Kenna who was last weeks winner of the lucky square. .
Inniskeen Camogie notes
On Sunday last the Inniskeen ladies togged out for their first games of the year. With excellent weather conditions and the team in good form, it had the makings of a prosperous day. However due to other commitments, some team members could not make it on the day, but that didn’t deter the 15 girls that togged out from giving the games their all. First game was against a fast paced Castleblayney side and although at half time Inniskeen were down by 5 points, the second half was clearly Inniskeens strongest. Determination and confidence grew, with Brigid Dooley nearly on target for a goal, but the 10 minute half was not long enough for the Inniskeen girls to regain form. Castleblayney subsequently went on to win the County Blitz title.
In the second game we came up against Clontibret. Inniskeen were in much better form and coming into their stride and fought for every ball. Both new players to the team and existing players gelled together well in this game and both Lorraine Casey and Tracey McGeeney fought well to keep the Clontibret defence on their toes. Brona McGahon stepped into the goal mouth and guided the ball up the field and along with Inniskeens tough defensive side, created trouble for Clontibrets attack. However Clontibret finished winners and with 2 wins to their belt, they went on to meet Castleblayney in the final.
Well done to everyone on the day and thanks to all who helped out with the team. Training continues on Monday and Wednesday at 7pm in Gratton Pairc.
By michael Tue 12th Apr
