The camogs of Ulster University, Jordanstown were among the teams celebrating after the dust had settled on an exciting Ashbourne Cup camogie festival weekend.
The Jordanstown side took home the first silverware of the tournament, the Purcell Shield, hitting 1-11 in the first half of the final with captain Niamh Mallon leading the way as UUJ held off at tenacious Trinity side.
Mallon said afterwards that the victory was her side’s reward for their hard work over the year.
“We knew coming down it was going to be a tough game. There were times in the second-half that Trinity made it sticky for us,” she said.
“I’d like to thank our manger and development officer for all their help over the year and to the UUJ girls who have worked hard over the year, this is the reward for their dedication.”
University of Limerick were also celebrating at the weekend after making it two Ashbourne Cup wins in three years when they saw off University College, Cork at Abbotstown.
The game was a repeat of last year’s final when UL snatched victory with a late injury-time goal but this year as goals from 'Player of the Match' Ereena Fryday and Caoimhe Lyons’s were enough to claim the win for the Shannonsiders.
Waterford ace Beth Carton played a key role in UL's Ashbourne victory.
She opened the scoring and soon had her personal tally to three points as UL held a 1-5 to 1-3 lead at the break.
UUC’s Katrina Mackey hit two frees to reduce the gap to one but points from Aoife McGrath and Patrice Diggin kept the Cork side at bay.
A goal from Katie Coughlan was enough to claim a one point win for Cork IT in the Ashbourne Shield Final, as the Leesiders saw off DCU 1-08 to 0-09.
DIT had to dig deep to hold off Maynooth by two points in the Purcell Cup final.
The Dublin side hit 3-15 to claim their final spot, while a late save by Niamh Doyle saw Maynooth overcome Queen’s University 1-6 to 0-8 to book their spot in the final.
Aoife Minogue gave a 'Player of the Match' performance as she drove her side forward with some stunning points including a long range effort from midfield to edge DIT in front as they took home the Purcell Cup for the first time since 2010.
Melissa Lyons was the key contributor for Maynooth and that was the case again in the final but she just had to give way to the magnificence of player of the match,
St Patrick’s College defeated Athlone IT to take home the Fr Meaghair Cup.
It was Athlone who opened the scoring through Grace Coleman but two goals from Claire O’Rourke turned the game on its head with a brace of goals in a matter of minutes.
The Midlanders couldn’t respond to this double blow and trailed at half time by 2-5 to 0-2.
The second-half was much tighter but Athlone could not make the ground up.
Instead, 'Player of the Match' Mary Cronan kept the scoreboard ticking over for the Drumcondra contingent.
Cliodhna Walsh registered a third St Pat’s goal before Dervla Higgins gave Athlone a deserved consolation score, leaving it 3-8 to 1-3 at the final whistle.
Ashbourne Cup
UL 2-8 UCC 1-7
Ashbourne Shield
CIT 1-8 DCU 0-9
Purcell Cup Final
DIT 1-8 Maynooth University 1-6
Fr Meaghair Cup Final
Athlone IT 1-3 DCU St Pats 3-8
