Photo : Sharon McMahon holds back Lisa O' Grady for Niki Kaiser. Credit : Caroline O'Keeffe 

Senior Championship

Shannon Camogie:

Scariff Ogonnelloe 1-8 Newmarket on Fergus 0-15

Scariff Ogonnelloe battled hard on Saturday afternoon in their second game of the Senior Championship against Newmarket on Fergus in an immaculate Shannon Camogie pitch.  Captain Mairead Scanlon was on form and contributed to most of the scoring throughout the game for the east Clare outfit while for the Blues Rachel Kelleher was on song.

In the opening moments Scariff Ogonnelloe pointed twice with Scanlon on target from placed ball followed by an early goal from Danielle Sheedy. Newmarket may have been rocked by the early onslaught but kept their composure, and a brace of frees from Kelleher followed by a well struck effort from play by Jenny Kelly had the deficit reduced to two points mid-way through the half. The Blues cane into their won in the second quarter and outscored the east Clare outfit by four points to one, Kelly, Sharon McMahon and Kelleher adding for the Blues with Scanlon converting from placed ball to leave the half time score Newmarket on Fergus 0-7 Scariff Ogonnelloe 1-3. 

Within thirty seconds of the second half starting Rachel Kelleher with the help of Niki Kaiser set the tone for Newmarket for the next fifteen minutes of the game where Newmarket mostly dominated, by outscoring their opponents 7 points to 1. Kelleher punished Scariff Ogonnelloe with some superb free conversions, while her link up play with Kaiser saw the pair combine well to create havoc in the Scariff Ogonnelloe defence. The east Clare outfit did mount a comeback with three unanswered points, to leav e a goal between the sides with ten minutes of time remaining. However, from there to the end a poor supply of ball into the forwards who were well marshalled by a solid Blues defence of the McMahon sisters Roisin and Laura along with Carol O’Leary, ensured that the east Clare outfit were held to a point while Kelleher finished out the scoring with a well struck free to leave the blues winners 0-15 to 1-8.

Newmarket-On-Fergus: Aileen Kilmartin; Aoife Griffin, Roisin McMahon, Katie O’Flanagan; Aimee McInerney, Laura McMahon, Carol O’Leary; Aine O’Brien, Joanne Walsh; Rachel Kelleher (0-9), Niki Kaiser (0-1), Michelle McMahon (C); Jenny Kelly (0-3), Sharon McMahon (0-2), Zoe McInerney. Sub. AnnMarie Hayes for Joanne Walsh and Mary Enright for Michelle McMahon.

Scariff-Ogonnelloe: Ashling Corbett; Maria Brody, Susan Daly, Anna McNamara; Aoife Moloney, Ciara Doyle, Alison McGee; Lynda Daly 0-1, Susan Vaughan; Rachel Minogue, Mairead Scanlon 0-7 6F, Aisling Corry; Aoife Power, Kealy Power, Danielle Sheedy 1-0.

Referee: Ger Hoey

Clooney GAA:

Clooney Quin 1-14 Eire Og 1-9

Clooney/Quin had home advantage over Éire Óg in round 2 of the senior championship following a coin toss when the original venue of Fr McNamara Park was declared unplayable.

Both sides were seeking to earn their first points of the championship and in this must win encounter, it was the hosts that eventually came out on top on a final score of 1-14 to 1-09.

The sides were level at the break, despite a brighter start for the Clooney Quin side with three points in a row from Orlaith Duggan, Mairead Ryan and Sarah Costello. Rae Wall, who put in a sterling shift between the posts for Éire Óg, saved a Ryan shot on goal over the bar, minimising the damage. Grainne Nolan opened the visitors account with a pointed ’45 followed by two Orla Devitt points with Nolan levelling matters from a placed ball. Rae Wall pulled off an excellent save from a Clooney attack, but, Sarah Costello reacted well and sent the rebound to the back of the Éire Óg net. A tally of 1-01 from the stick of Orla Devitt put the townies ahead by the minimum, but, an Aoibheann Duggan point left the sides all square at the break.

The second half was a tough & physical affair with Sarah Redmond putting Éire Óg ahead once again at the outset with a long range effort. Five unanswered points put Clooney four points in the clear midway through the half while Éire Óg cut the deficit to two with points from Orla McMahon and Aoife O’Neill. A brace of points either side of a Grainne Nolan point gave Clooney Quin the win on a scoreline of 1-14 to 1-09. The third and final round of senior championship is on Sept 15th when Éire Óg will take on last years beaten finalists, Newmarket on Fergus who already have two wins. Clooney & Scariff Ogonelloe, each with one win, will face off in a must win match for both sides. 
Éire Óg: Rae Wall; Aimee Daniels, Laura Brown, Amy Russell; Leah Ryan, Eva Whyte, Claire McMahon;  Grainne Nolan (0-03 1x’45 1f), Sarah Redmond(0-01); Ciara Kennedy, Aoife O’Neill(0-01), Maria Redmond; Orla Devitt(1-03), Orla McMahon(0-01), Elizabeth Russell.
Clooney/Quin: Marie Keating, Nicole O’Riordan, Mairead Kelly, Jessica O’Neill, Ciara Halpin, Sinead McGee, Ciara Grogan, Louise Henchy, Orlaith Duggan (0-4 (0-2f)), Mary Clune, Mairead Ryan (0-4), Marie Halpin (0-1), Aoibheann Duggan (0-2), Sarah Costelloe (1-3), Kate McCarthy.

Subs: Emma Deegan for Mary Clune (25mins), Moya Dunne, Sinead Considine, Roisin Keogh, Aisling McGrath, Hannah O’Brien. 
Referee: Ciaran Sheehan

Newmarket on Fergus GAA:

Truagh Clonlara 1-14 Inagh Kilnamona 1-14

A large crowd gathered in Fr Murphy Park Newmarket-on-Fergus in glorious sunshine on Saturday evening for what was expected to be a close encounter in Round 2 of the Clare Senior Camogie Championship - and a closer encounter couldn't have ensued! The sides played out a thrilling game that was all square at half time and full time and has left group two far from decided with one round to play. Inagh-Kilnamona worryingly opened the scoring after less than a minute with an easy point after some loose marking from Truagh. Perhaps a good shock at the right time - Truagh came storming into the game thereafter and scored three without reply. Roisin Begley scored from play and was immediately followed by a Michelle Caulfield score, after she had made a searing run up the middle to put the puckout won over the bar. Truagh's main freetaker Eimear Kelly put her first effort wide but got a chance to settle into the game with a point from play after 6 minutes. Inagh-Kilnamona Amy Keating converted a free to narrow the gap to the minimum but the lead was back to three after a brace of points from Laura Foley after some good work from Kelly and Ellen Horgan to assist. Inagh-Kilnamona regained their opening lead after they fought their way back in the second quarter - points from a placed ball through Keating and from play via the stick of Andrea O’Keeffe  and Sinead O’Loughlin were followed up with a goal after 20 minutes, Fiona Lafferty getting the last touch following a goal mouth scramble. The lead however swung back Truagh's way with points from Foley and a brace from Begley  but Inagh-Kilnamona finished the half the strongest converting another free, their third of the half and pointing from play on the stroke of half time to leave the scores level at the break Truagh 0-9 to 1-6 Inagh-Kilnamona. 

The Champions of the last two years came flying out of the traps after the break with six unanswered scores in the third quarter. With two converted frees and four points from play the title holders looked to have taken control of the game. Some positional changes from Truagh saw Sarah Sherlock moved to full back with Aine O'Loughlin deployed to wing back. Becky Foley replaced Máire Begley in the full forward line and a shuffle of the forward pack seemed to rejuvenate the Truagh team. Kelly again found her range and mid way through the second half with two points from play narrowed the gap to 4. Inagh-Kilnamona looked calm under the mini comeback and pointed from play to settle any nerves. Kelly again pointed for the league champions of 2017 and mid fielder Niamh Powell made a great run in to point from 35 metres. Kelly added her fourth from play but shortly after added her most important score of the day with a well taken goal after some continuing pressure on the Inagh-Kilnamona full back line. This put Truagh ahead for the first time since the 28th minute but with seven minutes remaining the result was far from pronounced. After a high scoring game thus far, only one score followed - tellingly a point from a free by Amy Keating to level the game. The final five minutes plus stoppage was played out in an energy sapping way with no scores from either team and a draw resulted - a fair reflection on a tough match but a disappointing result for both teams as the winner would have all but guaranteed their passage into the semi final. 

Truagh Team: Aideen Hogg; Sinéad Ryan, Aine O’Loughlin, Michelle Powell; Sarah Hastings, Michelle Caulfield 0-1, Sarah Sherlock; Hannah Horgan, Niamh Powell 0-1; Ellen Horgan, Eimear Kelly 1-6, 2F, Laura Foley 0-3; Louise Egan, Máire Begley, Roisin Begley 0-3.

Sub: Rebecca Foley for M Begley (40mins). 

Inagh Kilnamona: Rebecca Keating; Sinead Quinn, Jane Fitzgerald, Sinead Power; Teresa O’Keeffe, Clare Hehir 0-1, Orlaith Cotter; Andrea O’Keeffe 0-3, Laoise Ryan 0-1; Chloe Foudy, Sinead O’Loughlin 0-2, Amy Keating 0-7 4F; Aoibhinn Ryan, Fiona Lafferty 1-0, Claire Commane.

Subs: Laura Rynne for Fiona Lafferty, Fiona Lafferty for Chloe Foudy.

Referee: Kevin Egan