AIB All-Ireland Club Junior B Camogie Championship final
Naomh Treasa (Tyrone) 2-3 Ceann Creige (Glasgow) 0-4
BOTH Naomh Treasa of Dungannon and Ceann Créige from the east end of Glasgow made history at the NGDC in Abbotstown on Saturday.
The Tyrone side becomes the first to win the junior B title twice since it was introduced in 2018, while Ceann Creige are the first team from outside Ireland to contest an All-Ireland club camogie final.
The score of 0-1 each at the end of the first half might also be a record of some sorts in the difficult and wintry conditions. It wasn’t until the 10th minute that the first score was registered, Nicole Nugent from Newbridge in Derry hitting the target from a free for the Scottish outfit.
Ceann Créige had their goalkeeper to thank for holding that lead as Sarah O’Sullivan made a couple of telling saves before player-of-the-match Róisín McErlean picked off a point from a 45 in the 23rd minute.
Naomh Treasa couldn’t have asked for a better start to the second half with McErlean taking a neat pass from Gráinne Rafferty before bursting through to hit the net after just 28 seconds.
That goal really lifted the Dungannon outfit and Laura Barker began to get on a lot of loose ball around the middle third, forcing the Glasgow outfit to sit very deep in their own half with Katie McMahon, a dominant player for Ceann Créige in the first half, more curtailed.
McErlean fired over a point from play while pressure mounted and O’Sullivan made another incredible save to prevent her from scoring her second goal. However around the midway point in the second half, a long ball in from Rafferty caused confusion for the Scottish defence and made it over the line.
In the final quarter, Ceann Créige started to push bodies forward, and their late surge kicked off with a well-taken score from former Bredagh player Anna McKee. Claire Kelly responded with a point at the other end to relieve the pressure on her back line.
But Sarah O’Sullivan pointed a 20 metres free and Nicole Nugent added a fourth point for the Scottish side, but it wasn’t enough to really threaten a late turnaround.
N Treasa R McErleann 1-2 (0-1f); G Rafferty 1-0, C Kelly 0-1
Ceann Créige N Nugent 0-2 (1f), S O’ Sullivan 0-1f,
A McKee 0-1