AIB All-Ireland Club Junior B Camogie Championship Final

Éire Óg Carrickmore (Tyrone) 2-7 St Kevin’s (Louth) 1-5

In a competitive encounter that saw both sides create scoring opportunities throughout, Éire Óg held their nerve to keep their Louth opponents at bay despite adding just a single point from the 38th minute onwards.

The Ulster champions established an early foothold in the contest through the accurate free-taking of joint-captain Aoibhínn Daly, who converted two early placed balls before adding a point from play to give Carrickmore a three-point advantage.

The opening goal arrived in the 15th minute through Gormley, who demonstrated excellent awareness and composure when she saw McKernan emerge out of a ruck and after moving well to take a pass off the right shoulder of her wing-forward, Gormley drove through unopposed to finish clinically to the top left corner.

St Kevin’s registered their first wide through Amy Murray as they struggled to establish their attacking rhythm while playing into the breeze. The scale of the challenge facing them grew even larger when a hopeful ball into the square wasn’t seized and McKernan reacted sharply to bat the loose sliotar to the net from close range.

That goal seemed to spur the Louth champions into action as they showed their resilience with a strong response. Roisín Maguire opened their account with a well-taken point from play before Murray delivered a moment of quality. Standing just inside the arc, she struck a long-range effort that evaded the Carrickmore goalkeeper Tara Haughey and found the net, bringing St Kevin’s right back into contention.

Daly added another free for Carrickmore to give the Tyrone side a 2-4 to 1-1 advantage at half-time.

With the breeze to come, St Kevin’s weren’t without hope, but a strong start to the second half from the Éire ÓG saw them register the next two points through a highlight reel point from Niamh McElduff and another Daly free.

Lucy Sheridan reduced the deficit with a well-struck free for St Kevin’s, converting with accuracy under pressure. After wides from both Aoife Gregory and Carrickmore’s McElduff, Gregory broke through with an important point from play in the 12th minute to keep the Louth side in touch.

McElduff added a point from play to restore the six-point cushion and while Amy Murray hit back for St Kevin’s, the Tyrone champions maintained control of proceedings.

The Leinster champions needed a goal but it was Éire Óg who came closest to raising a green flag, St Kevin’s goalkeeper Tara Reilly producing an excellent save late in the second half to deny Daly from close range.

The Louth side introduced several substitutes including Grace King, Mary Taaffe, and Lauren Gregory in an attempt to spark a late rally, but the chances they needed never materialised and those early goals proved to be the difference.

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, C Mason, Sophie Cunningham. Subs: Caoimhe Cunningham for Caoimhe Mason (h-t), Grace King for Lily Carter (39), Mary Lynch for Aoife Carroll (58), Lauren Gregory for Gemma Murray (59), Mary Taaffe for Sophie Cunningham (62).

Éire Óg: Tara Haughey; Néamhann 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 for Micheala Daly (41), Aoibh Bennett for Aoibh Kerr (55), Aoibhinn Gallagher for Kate Hughes (58).

Referee: Karol Collins (Galway)