Liberty Insurance All-Ireland Intermediate Camogie Championship final
Antrim 2-10
Down 4-16
DOWN secured the All-Ireland Intermediate Camogie title at the expense of Antrim following a 12-point victory at Kingspan Breffni Park on Saturday evening.
The Saffrons got off to the best possible start when Roisin McCormick plundered a goal inside the first minute, but Down hit four unanswered points while a goal on the stroke of half-time from Sara Louise Graffin gave the Mourne County a 1-8 to 1-5 lead at the break.
Antrim regained the upper hand in the early stages of the second half thanks to a point from Catrine Dobbin and a brilliant goal from Maeve Kelly.
However, the scores quickly dried up for Antrim as Down took full control of proceedings and a brace of goals from Player-of-the-Match Niamh Mallon and a late strike from Lauren Clarke sealed a first All-Ireland at the grade for Down since 1998.
Speaking after the game, Antrim’s joint-manager Paul McKillen felt the 12-point winning margin was slightly harsh on his players, but hailed the character shown by his young side.
“I honestly feel Down’s greater experience was a big factor and they are a very good side,” said McKillen.
“On the day, our girls came out of the blocks flying and we stuck with them for the majority of the first half. We gave away a bad goal at the end of the first half. The heads went down a bit and that 15 minutes at the start of the second half just killed us.
“In the tackle, they are a physically stronger side and they’ve that bit more experience than we do.
“I don’t think there’s 12 points between the teams. Our girls will come back - they are a very young side. They have been a delight to work with this year and I have to thank them for all their commitment throughout the year and also to the county board for all their support.”
Antrim could not have wished for a better start when McCormick found the back of the net with a fine strike from 20 metres after barely 40 seconds.
It took Down almost six minutes to register their first point via Aimee McAleenan, but they soon found their stride with further points from Mallon, Paula O’Hagan (free) and Graffin had them ahead on 12 minutes.
Antrim’s first point arrived on 16 minutes from a Niamh O’Neill free following a foul on Kelly before McCormick fired over her first point to give Antrim a slender 1-2 to 0-4 advantage at the first water break.
Kelly landed her first point of the day following excellent work by Maeve Connolly and McCormick as Antrim moved two ahead before firing over another moments after McAleenan had scored at the other end.
Antrim then missed a glorious goal-scoring opportunity when Catrine Dobbin’s shot tricked inches wide of the post and Down took full advantage of the miss by scoring a point via Mallon to reduce the gap to one.
Having been let off the hook, Down kicked on in the closing minutes of the first half and retook the lead with back-to-back points from Sorcha McCartan and Graffin.
Antrim’s Maeve Kelly has her shot blocked by Down's Aoife Keown
Another foul on Kelly led to a free from O’Neill on the 30-minute mark, but Down struck for their first goal in stoppage time when Graffin fired a shot into the roof of the net to give her side a 1-8 to 1-5 lead at the break.
After plundered a goal in the first minute of the first half, Antrim were quickly out of the blocks again in the second half with Dobbin firing over the bar to cut the gap to two points.
Antrim found themselves back in front when McCormick set up Kelly for their second goal with the wing-forward powering through the Down defence before blasting her shot past Catherine McGourty.
Unfortunatel, for the Saffrons, they were unable to build on their second major and, with Kelly and McCormick being tightly marked in the final 20 minutes, scores proved difficult to come by.
In stark contrast, Down were ruthless in the second half and Mallon’s goal on 38 minutes moved them 2-9 to 2-6 ahead. Derek Dunne’s side were never behind again from that point and when Mallon bagged her second goal four minutes later, the game looked to have slipped beyond Antrim’s reach.
Down’s Niamh Mallon tries to evade Amy Boyle of Antrim
The Saffrons simply couldn’t engineer a goal chance to force their way back into the contest, even if Kelly did her best on several occasions, drawing three frees which were converted by O’Neill while McCormick also tapped over a free in the closing stages.
The fourth and final goal for Down arrived in injury-time when full-forward Lauren Clarke, who had been due to come off but re-entered the game as her replacement wasn’t ready, showed great composure to beat Eimear Boyle and secure a comfortable 12-point win for Down.
ANTRIM: E Boyle; C Patterson, C Drain, C Conlon; N Donnelly, M Connolly; E Laverty, L McNaughton; M Kelly (1-2), Christine Laverty, C Dobbin (0-1); R McCormick (1--2, 0-1f), Ciara Laverty, N O’Neill (0-5, 0-5fs).
Subs: C McKillop for E Laverty (40mins), O O'Hara for Ciara Laverty (44mins), NA Donnelly for Patterson (46mins), A Donnelly for Christine Laverty (59mins).
DOWN: C McGourty; C Caldwell, D Magee, D Harrison; B Fitzpatrick, K McMullan, F Carr; A Keown, P O’Hagan (0-5, 0-3fs, 0-2 '45s); A McAleenan (0-2), SL Graffin (1-3), C Cowen; N Mallon (2-3), L Clarke (1-1), S McCartan (0-2).
Subs: C Rocks for Fitzpatrick (60mins), C Fitzpatrick for Cowen (61mins), I O'Hare for L Clarke (64mins).
REFEREE: J Heffernan (Wexford).
