St. Kevins’ camogie AIB All-Ireland Junior B Camogie Club Championship fairytale journey ended in disappointment against Éire Óg Carrickmore at a cold Abbotstown this afternoon.

The Louth side played into a stiff breeze in the first half and found themselves pinned back early by an Éire Óg Carrickmore side that looked comfortable on the big stage.

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The Ulster champions were sharp and clinical when chances presented themselves, while the Leinster representatives struggled initially to settle. Carrickmore registered the first chance inside two minutes, shooting wide, but it was an early warning.

By the fourth minute, joint captain Aoibhinn Daly had opened the scoring from a placed ball to put the Tyrone side ahead. Daly was influential throughout as her accuracy and composure provided a steady stream of scores in the opening half.

Further points followed on nine and twelve minutes, the second created by Daly’s long delivery, which Michaela Daly knocked over the bar, and suddenly St. Kevins were chasing the game without yet troubling the scoreboard.

The contest tilted decisively in the space of four minutes midway through the half. Midfielder Sorcha Gormley produced a moment of real quality as she embarked on a surging solo run before finishing emphatically to the net.

Before Kevins could regroup, Carrickmore struck again when a high delivery from Niamh McElduff caused problems, and Léanne McKernan got on the end of it to score past Tara Reilly.

St. Kevins’ joint captain Róisín Maguire finally opened her side’s account with a well-taken point on 24 minutes before they found a lifeline just before the break.

Amy Murray struck a speculative effort from distance on the half-hour mark, and it dipped deceivingly over the Carrickmore goalkeeper and into the net to cut the deficit to five points.

However, a late Aoibhinn Daly free ensured Carrickmore went in six clear at the interval with the sense that St. Kevins would need something special in the second half.

Half time: St. Kevins 1-1 Éire Óg Carrickmore 2-4

The second half breeze now favoured the Louth side and Lucy Sheridan and Aoife Gregory began to find pockets of space, while the Kevins’ defence tightened to limit Carrickmore to fewer clear-cut chances.

Points from Sheridan (free) and Gregory narrowed the gap before Amy Murray added another from play late on. Goalkeeper Tara Reilly pushed upfield in the dying moments and pointed to reduce the margin with time almost up.

Carrickmore stood firm under late pressure with gallant defending to see out the closing minutes and seal the victory. In the end, the better side on the day won. But for St. Kevins, this was not an ending, rather, a beginning.

Full time: St. Kevins 1-5 Éire Óg Carrickmore 2-7.

St. Kevins: Tara Reilly (0-1); Carole Ann Logue, Leah Cunningham, Lily Carter; Aoife Gregory (0-1), Claragh Cunningham, Aoife Carroll; Gemma Murray (jc), Róisín Maguire (jc) (0-1); Lucy Sheridan (0-1, 1f), Gráinne Murray, Amy Murray (1-1); Katie Mathews, Grace King, Sophie Cunningham.

Subs: Caoimhe Cunningham on for Caoimhe Mason, Grace King on for Lily Carter, Mary Taaffe on for Aoife Carroll, Lauren Gregory for Gemma Murray.

Éire Óg Carrickmore: Tara Haughey; Néamhnnn Ní Donnghaile, Emma Cáit Gallagher, Aoibh Kerr; Bláthnait Kerr, Róise Kerr, Órlaith McElduff; Sorcha Gormley (1-0), Ciara Clarke; Léanne McKernan (1-0), Niamh McElduff (0-2), Aoibhinn Daly (jc) (0-4, 3f); Neasa McElroy, Michaela Daly (0-1), Kate Hughes.

Subs: Minnie McCollon on for Micheala Daly, Aoibh Bennett for Aoibh Kerr, Aoibhinn Gallagher for Kate Hughes.

Referee: Karol Collins (Galway).