Towers make it back-to-back c’ship honours

By Eoghan Gardiner

ROUND Tower secured back-to-back camogie championship titles after overcoming Kilmacud Crokes 2-10 to 2-4 in the Junior Three decider at Monastery Road on Sunday.

Although Crokes registered the first score of the game thanks to a point from full forward Kate O’Connor, Towers soon began to take control thanks to a free from Yazmin O’Neill and a long-range effort from Megan Hoyte that both found their way over the bar.

And the Clondalkin outfit were handed another major lift 25 minutes in after Holly Greg fired home the first goal of the game after a shot from Kate Whelan was parried into her path by Kilmacud goalkeeper Aisling Buckley and she duly mopped up the loose ball.

Early in the second half, Crokes, at this stage trailing by ten points, began to claw their way back into the game thanks in no small part to their first goal of the day.

In the 45th minute, after a lengthy discussion with the umpire, the referee awarded another goal to the visitors, deciding that the sliotar had indeed crossed the goal line, bringing them right back into the game with only four points separating the two sides.

After receiving a pass from Cliodhna Keane at close range with ten minutes to go, Crokes left full forward Zoe Emerson only had to pull on the sliotar to send it to the back of the net, but a brave tackle from Towers goalkeeper Karla Meehan prevented her from getting the shot away.

Emma O’Malley races into attack for Round Tower during their Junior Three Camogie Championship clash with Kilmacud Crokes

But shortly after, Ellen O’Brien scored a point after a good individual run to haul the Stillorgan side to within three points of the hosts.

In response, Towers upped their game, scoring three points to put a total of six between the two sides by the final whistle.

That late surge included an impressive score from Nadine Salinger, when she caught the sliotar in the air with her hurl to direct it over the bar.

The final whistle drew cheers not only from players and management, but also from the sizable crowd who had come out to support Towers, their numbers so great that they almost surrounded the boundary fence in its entirety.

ROUND TOWER: K. Meehan, C. Byrne-Egan, C. Devaney, A. Murray, C. Morris, Y. O’Neill, B. Devaney, M. Hoyte, S. Tunney, K. Whelan, E. O’Malley, R. Ní Dhonnagáin, H. Gregg, A. Kiely, N. Behan

SUBS: S. Gleeson, E. Roebuck, A. Fitzpatrick, N. Salinger, G. Keane, A. Byrne, K. Behan, A. Murphy, A. McNamara, T. Whiteman

KILMACUD CROKES: A. Buckley, S. Kavanagh, J. Lynch, A. Jackman, A. Conroy, R. McClafferty, B. Lee, E. Redmond, R. Hagerty, L. Maguire, E. O’Brien, E. Crowley, C. Keane, K. O’Connor, Z. Emerson

SUBS: M. Ní Chlerigh, A. Dowling, C. Tooher, S. Egan, E. Ní Lideadha