Rangers into Leinster semi-final after hard fought six point win over Bunclody
Mount Leinster Rangers' top scorer on the day, Roisín Joyce, gets a shot away while Muireann Doyle, minus her hurl, tries to block
Just weeks ago, Mount Leinster Rangers Camogie team made history as they became just the second team this millennium to win the Carlow Senior Camogie Championship, breaking Myshall’s 25 year hold on the title, and now they’re just 60 minutes away from a Leinster final as they beat Bunclody by six points in front of a packed house in Mount Leinster Rangers on Sunday afternoon. They had to work hard for the win, Bunclody to their credit kept fighting and never gave up, keeping pace with them throughout, forcing Rangers to find another gear to get the win. Whilst a six point win may suggest dominance, it’s misleading and doesn’t show the Bunclody fight.
The first score didn’t come until the seventh minute when Ciara Kavanagh dispatched a free from the left and almost two minutes later, Bunclody levelled through Lisa Kelly with Kavanagh adding a second free straight after. They would have to wait until the 20th minute for the next score when Roisin Joyce put a two point gap between the two sides. The game blew into life when Joyce, moved in to full forward, found the back of the net when Sarah Kehoe pushed forward and Joyce pounced on the ball in the box and fired into the bottom right hand corner with 21 minutes on the clock. Their joy was short lived though when an effort from the right was saved and the rebound was fired in by Kate Hendrick for Bunclody. Points from Kavanagh and Joyce meant that Rangers went in with a four point lead over their Wexford opponents at the break.
Into the second half, it took five minutes for the first score to be registered and it fell to Bunclody as Muireann Doyle fired a three pointer as she found space up the left hand side to fire in. to reduce the deficit to one point. Kavanagh pulled back a point but two quickfire frees from Aoife Mahon pulled Bunclody level. Rangers had to dig deep and they did just that, scoring six unanswered points to leave a significant gap between the two teams. Mahon hit over a free with two minutes to go but they needed more than one pointers to get back into the game. Kavanagh fired over in stoppage time to restore their six point lead.
Roisin Joyce 1-4, Ciara Kavanagh 0-7 (4fs), Molly Kavanagh 0-2, Chloe O’Dwyer 0-1.
Kate Hendrick 1-0, Muireann Doyle 1-0, Aoife Mahon 0-3fs, Lisa Kelly 0-2 (1f).
Catherine Kavanagh, Sarah Joyce, Aine Ryan, Kathleen Fenlon, Alice Dalton, Rachel Breen (Captain), Martha Dolan, Molly Kavanagh, Ciara Kavanagh, Roisin Joyce, Shannon Kavanagh, Sarah Kehoe, Eimear Byrne, Katie Barcoe, Rachel Bible. Subs: Anna Breen for Bible, 20; Chloe O’Dwyer for Byrne, 48; Rachel Kennedy for S Kavanagh, 48; Tara Kavanagh for M Kavanagh, 57.
Bridget Murphy, Riona Mahon, Orla Doyle, Naomi Kavanagh, Yvonne Kelly, Rachel Kelly, Jacqui Kehoe, Clodagh O’Byrne, Ciara Carroll, Muireann Doyle, Maeve Sinnott, Lisa Kelly, Kate Hendrick, Aoife Mahon, Aoife Farrell. Subs: Leah Morris for O’Byrne, h/t; Rosie Dunbar for R Mahon, 55; Kate Kirwan for Farrell, 50.
