AIB Leinster Senior Championship Semi Final.
Glynn Barntown 2-09 Piltown 2-10.
Sunday 3 November 2024
By Jason O’Brien
Piltown dig deep to reach a Leinster Final.
Piltown overcame a massive test of skill and of character as they beat the Wexford senior champions on their home patch by the minimum to set up a Leinster final meeting with St Vincents.
You don’t get anything easy when you travel away, and Glynn Barntown certainly went down fighting as the game was still up for grabs deep into the seven minutes of injury time in the second half.
Piltown got off to the best possible start straight from the throw in, Kellyann Doyle got possession, passed it to Katie Power and as usual she was accurate with her hand pass, straight to the hand of Patsy Kenny, she headed for goal and gave Lara O’Shea in the Barntown goal no chance to raise a green flag in the first minute. The perfect start for the away side and it continued for the Piltown side as Katie Power scored two points from out on the left side in the fifth and twelfth minutes to increase the lead to five points.
It took the home side 13 minutes to open their account, when centre forward Chloe Cashe stood over a free and put it over the bar into a slight breeze blowing towards her. Barntown were getting to grips with the game now, and were running at the Kilkenny champions, it was becoming a tough test for the Piltown rear guard, with the home side leaving one forward inside the 45, getting the ball in long to her and then swarming forward, it paid off in the 17th minute when Jessie Morrissey got the sliotar in hand, beat the defence and put it across Aoife Norris into the right hand corner to bring the Piltown lead back to one point. It was a boost to the home side after Piltown had control of the first quarter.
But Glynn were now back in the game. Sophie Holden rose a white flag in the next attack with Chloe Cashe replying with another pointed free. Kellyann Doyle answered with a her first free in the 20th minute as the game was starting to brew nicely. There was no holding back as the home side were cynical at the back and clinical up the front. Chloe Cashe wasn’t missing the numerous frees she was taking, scoring from near and one from way out on the right sideline, to keep the scoreboard moving for the Wexford champions, while on the Piltown side, while not getting as many frees, Kellyann Doyle made no mistake from the three she got and one from play. Glynn weren’t all about Cashe though, as full forward Ciara Butler who was proving a handful for full back Emily McCarthy and their battle throughout was one to watch, scored a point in the 28th minute, just after wing forward Layla Stafford pointed to make it a strong finish to the half for the home side.
Half Time score: Glynn Barntown 1-06 Piltown 1-07.
The bare minimum between the sides and it was a good indicator of the game, as there was nothing in it, there was only 3 wides in the first half. It wasn’t high scoring, but it was high on drama and incident.
Referee Donegan got the game underway and Piltown were playing into the slight breeze coming from the scoreboard end. The battle was truly on, it took ten minutes for the first score to be registered when Patsy Kenny, who scored the first score in the first half also, put the ball over the bar. It was a game going end to end, but the defending from both sides was tenacious, blocking, hooking, bodies on the line stuff. This was keeping scoring chances down, and on the big wide pitch it was survival of the fittest. Players were going down injured and there was quite a few stoppages in play, time to get a breather and a slug of water, a few words of advice, but it was stopping either side from getting a run at the game, to register a few scores in a row to gain the upper hand.
Glynn Barntown’s Laura Dempsey was gaining the upper hand playing Centre back, free in the first half as she swept up any wayward pass and breaking ball, on the Piltown side there was Lorna OShea who was tenacious throughout the match. Piltown had a purple patch then after Patsy’s point, Sophie Holden scored her second point of the game after being set up by the superb Kellyann Doyle in the 45th minute. Then a crucial moment for the away side after serious work to get the ball back, it arrived to Patsy, amid a gaggle of players and she got a shot away, it was saved by Lara O’Shea, it rolled free to the right of the goal, it needed someone to think quick, react, be brave and there’s no one better than Sophie Holden to do all three. She pounced and pulled on the sliotar into the net. From the very big crowd there was a roar as the scores were now 2-09 to 1-06 after 48 minutes. Kellyann Doyle made no mistake with another free a minute later as she arrowed the ball over the bar after Katie Power was fouled again, this was their last score of the half.
The home sides Chloe Cashe got her first chance of the second half from a 45 , despite it been given as wide by the umpire, he was over ruled by the ref and it was changed to a 45 and Cashe made no mistake. In truth Piltown looked the more dangerous from play as their shooting, when they got the chance was impeccable, only one wide in the first half and none in the second, but Barntown were still there, still fighting, stopping their attack. It was time now for the home sides purple patch, they upped the gear, could Piltown match it now? Time to dig deep, time to believe.
Straight away Cashe got another chance after yet another foul in the 51st minute. And then Glynn Barntown’s Ciara Butler, who was a handful all game, got on a loose ball inside the parallelogram and pulled on it on the ground and it went past Aoife Norris into the net, to cut the lead back to two points with six minutes left. The atmosphere was electric around the pitch and higher on the pitch. Five minutes left, who will want it more, who will go through to a Leinster Final, its unchartered ground for both sides at this level. The ‘soft’ frees kept coming for the home side, while more serious incidents were unpunished and after striking one free wide previously, Chloe Cashe stood over another one, three minutes into the seven minutes of injury time and this time she made no mistake and cut Piltown’s lead to one point.
Glynn Barntown kept coming at Piltown, a battle to the end, bodies on the line, one mistake could be the winning or losing of it. And then seven minutes deep into injury time, Layla Stafford got free, she broke through the middle and shot high between the posts, there was a collective intake of breath from inside and outside the pitch side fence. It sailed high, but it sailed to the right and wide. Cheers from one side and silence from the other and on the puckout, the final whistle was blown. A one-point victory for the Kilkenny champions and they go on to play St Vincents of Dublin in the 2024 Leinster Final.
What a battle between the two sides, there was nothing left to give, as bandaged players on both sides, shook hands, commiserated and congratulated, celebrated and consoled, after what was a tough game of camogie.
Hard luck to Glynn Barntown, a puck of the ball was the difference, and congratulations to them on their maiden Senior County title. A season to remember for them, while Piltown’s season continues.
Final Score Glynn Barntown 2-09 Piltown 2-10
Piltown – Aoife Norris, Lorraine Long, Emily McCarthy, Alice Talbot, Jenni O’Dea, Karen Duggan, Alanna Gallagher, Aoife Landers, Lorna O’Shea, Ellen O’Keeffe, Kellyann Doyle, Niamh Culleton, Sophie Holden (Vice Captain), Patsy Kenny, Katie Power (Captain)
Glynn Barntown – Lara O’Shea, Emma O’Leary, Emma Walsh, Alibeth Moran Curran, Becca Fanning, Laura Dempsey, Roisin Cooney (Captain), Clodagh Jackman, Aisling Halligan, Layla Stafford, Chloe Cashe, Jessie Morrissey, Emma Dempsey, Ciara Bolger, Grace Roche
By PRO Tue 14th Jan
