U22 Roinn B Camogie County Final – St. Brigid’s v St. Martin’s – January 2023
‘Fingers crossed we click on the day, get a performance and hopefully the result will be in our favour’.
These were the parting words when we completed the REVIEW of 2022 U22 Camogie. To all those who train and manage teams, this is what you hope for on a County Final day.
Well it happened, the girls gave a complete performance which was richly deserved considering their huge efforts in the U22 championship. This group had trained hard over past few months on the back of a long year in 2022. Some had experienced county final success with the Junior C team while most had been runners-up in Senior League-Minor League – 2022. This fixture was always in doubt due to circumstances outside St. Brigid’s control but thankfully was played and St. Martin’s provided the opposition.
St. Brigid’s fielded a young team with all bar 2 underage for next 2 years (the girls who are moving on are LAOISE PRENDIVILLE and KATIE BRENNAN). Locating a field that was presentable in January was always going to be difficult but Conahy made their pitch available so huge thanks to all in CONAHY GAA Camogie.
This was always a tricky match for both with no real form and no game played by either team for over 7 weeks. St. Martin’s would have come with plenty of girls with huge experience meaning St. Brigid’s needed to be on their game. On a mild morning in Conahy, Saturday 21st January, we travelled with hope and knew if we performed we would have a great chance of victory. A positive start was required and we got it with a fortuitous goal by Lauren Ronan when a mishit free somehow ended up in St. Martin’s net. This paved the way with all the girls on their game and hungry for success. The St. Brigid’s backs were pulled and dragged all over the field but followed their players and allowed St. Martin’s no space. This allowed St. Brigid’s forwards to create space, create options and to hurt the opposition on the scoreboard. However, it was the midfield area where St. Brigid’s excelled, this area, along with the intelligent ball distribution from goalkeeper Ellie O’Neill was instrumental to St. Brigid’s success.
St. Brigid’s went in at half time with a cushion of 1-9 to 2 points, this was not a true reflection of the first half as St. Martin’s were strong, fast and skillful but their finishing let them down on a few occasions. St. Martin’s made a few positional changes and brought on a few subs, this helped but again the St. Brigid’s backs excelled with Laoise Prendiville leading as captain from centre back. After 10 minutes of St. Martin’s dominance in the second half the scoreboard didn’t reflect their effort. Thankfully, St. Brigid’s found another gear and scored another goal from Leah Brett to settle the St. Brigid’s nerves. A flurry of scores from the Brett sisters and Lauren Ronan finished out the game.
A complete performance by the St. Brigid’s girls on the day where a small panel of only 20 players were available, this may be a concern for future.
So, a mighty finish to Camogie 2022 and a great start to Camogie 2023, best of luck to all the girls in 2023 both on and off the field. Most of this group have nearly all under age medals now – Primary School’s, U14, U16 and U22, nice for the CV.
Full Time Score: St. Brigid’s 2-14 St. Martin’s 0-6
Scorers: Lauren Ronan 1-7 (1-2 frees), Leah Brett 1-3, Ava Brett 0-3, Claire Doheny 0-1
ELLIE O NEILL: excellent with timely saves but on the day it was her long clever puckouts that put St. Martin’s under pressure.
ROISIN CASEY: hugely effective and never let the side down and turned up all over the field on a few occasions.
MOYA O’BRIEN: clever plays from the front and a safe pair of hands, never put a foot wrong all day.
ROBIN DELANEY: silent assassin, again played out the field and cleared her lines on numerous occasions
MOLLY BUTLER: backed up her continued hard work with a super hour’s camogie, full of beans and full of energy.
LAOISE PRENDIVILLE: played the caption’s part with her continuous leadership, driving out with ball on numerous occasions.
ISABEL CALDBCEK: another quite effective back who goes about her duties with no fuss, seldom ends up second.
KATE MCCLUSKEY: full of energy, full of life, drives the team in the engine room and was possibly player of the game.
TARA RONAN: full of energy, full of life, plenty of honest work rate and with Kate led the team in the engine room.
AVA BRETT: again, another girl full of energy, work rate is exceptional, scored 3 great points – great future.
REECE DELANEY: given a job/role to mind the younger girls and wow did she do that, gives 200% every day whether a back or a forward.
LAUREN EAST: a worker, a battler and unselfish, every team needs this type of player, excellent hour’s camogie.
LEAH BRETT: back to the Leah we all know, hugely effective and finished with 1-3 on the day, can be proud of her hour’s camogie.
CLAIRE DOHENY: came into the game with sickness and injury that affected her performance, a player with a huge future.
LAUREN RONAN: clever, a finisher, unselfish, who played a major part in the victory, another final, another great performance.
KATIE BRENNAN: the leader who returned and constantly encouraged all around her, played a huge part with this team with the ‘SUPER SUB’ role.
ELLIE LANIGAN: the joker in the group who continues to improve, great attitude and again never lets the side down.
STEPHANIE BRENNAN: quiet, reliable and most improved effective player, had a great year with all teams, Minor, U22 and Junior.
MARGARET MAHER: effective, constant and reliable, another who always gives her all, another medal to go with the Junior in 2022.
AOIFE MURPHY: youngest member of the panel who had a Leinster Junior Colleges final with Loreto on the day.
TEAM: 1.Ellie O’Neill, 2.Roisín Casey, 3.Moya O’Brien, 4.Robin Delaney, 5.Molly Butler, 6.Laoise Prendiville (C) 7.Isabel Caldbeck, 8.Kate McCluskey, 9.Tara Ronan, 10.Ava Brett, 11.Reece Delaney, 12.Lauren East, 13.Leah Brett, 14.Claire Doheny, 15.Lauren Ronan, 16.Katie Brennan, 17.Ellie Lanigan, 18.Stephanie Brennan, 19.Margaret Maher, 20.Aoife Murphy
Huge thanks to all who helped in every way with Camogie U22 — to Gussey and the Ronan family for use of both pitches in 2022, both the camogie and hurling committee, Rosin Brennan S/C coach, the umpires, the referees and of course the girls themselves. Apologies if we left anyone out.
Finally, to Ronnie, John Caldbeck, John Kenny and especially Annmarie Hoyne who has worked, supported and trained a lot of camogie teams in past few years. Ann Marie moves on to the Kilkenny Intermediates, a huge gain for Kilkenny Intermediates and a huge loss to St. Brigid’s!