Two thrilling semi-finals saw Athenry (Galway) and St Finbarr\u2019s (Cork) secure their passage through to the AIB All-Ireland senior club camogie final at Croke Park in a fortnight.<\/p>\n
It was utter heartbreak for Dicksboro who after claiming the county and provincial double, were hoping to re-create the heights of two years ago and go all the way to All-Ireland glory.<\/p>\n
The winners squeezed past the Kilkenny<\/a> champions on a 1-9 to 0-10 scoreline with a first half goal for Athenry the catalyst to a much improved second half showing.<\/p>\n READ NEXT:\u00a0GAA President Jarlath Burns to visit Kilkenny GAA clubs in December\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Dicksboro made the stronger start with Rachel Dowling, Aoife Prendergast, Amy Clifford and Jenny Clifford all on target as the Kilkenny<\/a> club burst out of the blocks with four points in six minutes.<\/p>\n The Dervla Higgins-inspired Athenry defence got to grips with things from here however and they were right back in the game when midway through the half, a long shot from Eimear Keane came back into play off the post and Jessica Gill was on hand to sweep home the game\u2019s only goal<\/p>\n Therese Donoghue and Clodagh Burke added points in the second quarter as Athenry took a narrow 1-4 to 0-6 lead into the dressing room after hurling into a difficult wind.<\/p>\n That lead was doubled by Eva McGlynn after half-time but some outstanding freetaking from Aoife Prendergast kept Dicksboro in a game where scores grew increasingly hard to come by.<\/p>\n Higgins, Sin\u00e9ad Feeney and top scorer Sabina Rabbitte were among the stars for Joe Rabbitte’s charges as Athenry outscored their opponents by 0-3 to 0-1 in the final quarter to back up their historic win over reigning All-Ireland champions Sarsfields in the Galway final and secure their passage to Jones’ Road.\u00a0<\/p>\n STAY TUNED FOR MORE ON KILKENNY LIVE\/THE KILKENNY PEOPLE<\/p>\n