Faughs Celtic make it a clean sweep in title quests

IT WAS a clean sweep for the Faughs Celtic juvenile camogie teams who were in title match action at the weekend.

While the club’s Under 16s landed the Division Three Championship crown, the Under 14s saw off neighbours St Jude’s for the Division Two equivalent and the Under 13s bagged the Division Two Shield at the expense of Clontarf.

Just a solitary point separated Faughs Under 16s from league finalists Naomh Barróg in Kilbarrack on Sunday, the Templeogue outfit edging the decider 1-5 to 1-4.

They made the early running after Rebecca Horne and Ruby Whitaker combined for three points before the homeside responded by way of a goal by 13-year-old Roisin Nolan.

Yet Faughs re-established their three-point cushion when Horne found the back of the net only to see their opponents close the gap to the narrowest of margins by the halftime break thanks to points from Nolan and Lucy O’Hanlon.

The match rested on a knife’s edge throughout the entire second half, but, led by captain Mary Ann Harte, and bolstered by some tremendous defensive work from the likes of Maria Hennelly and Player-of-the Match Niamh Maher, the Templeogue side held their nerve to clinch victory against an opposition that has hit the bar on more than one occasion this season.

Indeed no less than eight players on that Barrog team had played in the club’s narrow loss to Ballyboden St Enda’s in the Under 14 Shield Final earlier that day, with many having suffered Football Championship semi final heartbreak at the hands of Raheny.

Faughs Celtic’s Under 14 team brought home the Divison Two Championship title. Photo by www.mqphoto

And they were the only side to take points off Faughs Celtic in the camogie league this year when they finished deadlocked in their previous encounter.

Meanwhile, goals were the order of the day for Faughs Celtic in the Under 14 Division Two Championship Final, as they recorded a 7-3 to 1-9 triumph over St Jude’s in St Paul’s School in Greenhills.

Helen Duignan led the charge for them with three early goals that laid the foundation for their victory.

Caitlin Ryan, at the other end, was rock solid in the centre of defence while Ailbhe Dunlevy and Lucy Sommers provided great energy at midfield for the eventual winners who were only recently relegated to Division Two largely due to structural changes in Dublin Camogie that meant they were unable to supplement their squad from the club’s Under 13 team due to clashes in fixture times.

Faughs Celtic captured the Under 16 Division Three Camogie Championship crown

Instead they had to call upon the services of players from their Under 14 Division Five team who now suddenly found themselves playing in Division One.

Still, despite their loss to Naomh Olaf in the relegation play-off, the team can draw plenty of comfort from this championship win against a very young St Jude’s team that reached the league final where they lost out to Oliver Plunkett’s.

Also in fine form for this Faughs team at the weekend was goalkeeper Zoe Ryan who was called into action plenty of times and denied Jude’s on numerous occasions.

Elsewhere Hollai Quinn spearheaded the attack for the Faughs Celtic Under 13s in their 4-2 to 2-0 victory over Clontarf in the Shield Final.

Indeed she accounted for two goals and a point while Connie Harte and Muireann Duffin also found the back of the net with Cara Sullivan completing the scoring for the Templeogue side.