Ice-cool Village show red-hot form to roar into All Ireland

AIB Intermediate Camogie Club All Ireland Semi Final by Aoife Lanigan, PRO

James Stephens 1-10 Castlegar (Galway) 0-8

Spirit in defence and attack yielded a dream result as the James Stephens camogie team booked their place in the Club All Ireland Final

Croke Park beckons for the Village women this Saturday after they scored a five point win over Castlegar (Galway) in the Semi Final

Played in freezing cold conditions at the University of Limerick, Emma Murphy opened the game’s scoring with a Castlegar point after 50 secs. The Village equalised in the 3^rd minute when Emma Manogue moved onto a neat pass from Niamh Butler and split the posts

Quick Points

Sophie O’Dwyer pushed James Stephens into the lead with two quick points, however Elisha & Chloe Broderick’s solo runs caused constant problems for the Village – one led to the first shot on the Kilkenny sides goal when Elisha laid off the sliotar to Roisin Crowe and who hit a rasper of a shot but the Village goalie, Lucy McGrath brought off a great save and cleared the sliotar away from goal. Chloe Broderick picked up the loose ball and slotted over the bar to leave the score 0-3 to 0-2 after 12 minutes

Sophie O’Dwyer extended James Stephens lead with three points, one from a 45m free and two from play, making it 0-6 to 0-2 as the first half moved towards its conclusion

Chloe Broderick got a much needed score for the Westerners before half time with her second point of the game. This was the final score of the first half, with James Stephens leading 0-6 to 0-3

Straight from the throw in, Emma Manogue started the second half by running at speed towards the Castlegar goal. When she was brought down on the 21m line. Sophie O’Dwyer slotted over the resulting free

Held Firm

Chloe Broderick scored a pointed free for Castlegar in the 32^nd minute. For the following 9 minutes both defences held firm to keep the status quo. Elisha Broderick and Caoimhe Callaghan made it a one point game as the match entered the final quarter with James Stephens leading by 0-7 to 0-6

Pressure

With the pressure on the Village rising, captain Niamh Deely got a point for the Kilkenny side to stem the tide before the key score of the game came. Rachel Leahy handpassed to the onrushing Michelle Teehan – she hit a low shot past the Castlegar goalie into the back of the net, sending the Village into a five point lead

Straight from the puck out, Martina Conroy Finnegan got a point from play for Castlegar

For the next 10 minutes, both teams tried to add to their tally but again both defences held firm. Castlegar had a pointed free from Chloe Broderick in the 59^th minute, but points from Sophie O’Dwyer and Niamh Deely sealed a great win for James Stephens, who now have an All-Ireland Final against Clonduff (Down) to look forward to this Saturday

Thrown in for this game is 4.15pm

James Stephens Scorers – Sophie O’Dwyer 0-7 (3f, 1 45), Michelle Teehan 1-0, Niamh Deely 0-2, Emma Manogue 0-1

Castlegar Scorers – Chloe Broderick 0-4 (2f), Emma Murphy, Elisha Broderick, Caoimhe Callaghan, Martina Conroy Finnegan 0-1 each

James Stephens – Lucy McGrath, Molly Burke, Emma Gaffney, Hannah Larkin, Emma Manogue, Aoife Cantwell, Hannah Scott, Michelle Teehan, Anna Doheny, Sophie O’Dwyer, Niamh Deely (Capt), Niamh Butler, Ciara Delaney, Rachel Leahy, Emily Smith

Subs – Jenna Larkin for Niamh Butler, Tara McGuire, Kerri Hennessy, Anna Bergin, Cady Boyle, Hannah Joyce, Niamh O’Hara, Sophie Meagher, Ciara McDonald, Yoma Etefari, Emma O’Brien, Niamh Leahy, Ciara Heffernan, Chloe Power, Caoimhe Moran

Castlegar – Eva Concannon, Sinead Lee, Leighann O’Shea, Robyn Lyons, Caitriona Lee, Meghan Wall, Elaine Murphy, Eva Gilmore, Elisha Broderick, Emma Murphy, Tara Connolly (JC), Caoimhe Callaghan, Chloe Broderick (JC), Louise Mahony, Roisin Crowe

Subs – Martina Conroy Finnegan, Orlaith Keane for Roisin Crowe, Kateyln McMahon for Tara Connolly, Rachel Cunniffe, Anna Flaherty Burke, Niamh King, Megan Wing, Aoibhe Flynn,  Caroline Glynn, Muireann O’Reilly, Maria Mahoney, Katie Connell, Ailbhe Connelly, Ciara Gilmore, Rosemarie Butler

Referee – Cathal McAllister (Cork)