Promising young Wicklow camogie side no match for Laois in All-Ireland semi-final

Irish Independent

5 days ago

Last year's beaten finalists took care of business against Wicklow with a facile 4-15 to 0-3 victory, while Armagh turned on the after-burners in the second half of their match against Roscommon to prevail by 2-17 to 1-8.
Laois were pretty much assured of their final berth at half-time, building up an unassailable 3-9 to 0-3 lead at the interval.
The die was cast inside two minutes when Susie Delaney found the net after the Portlaoise forward's initial effort was saved by Wicklow goalkeeper Leanne Lifely.
Wicklow competed well in the opening quarter and were given encouragement when Ciara Connolly, Sophie Bermingham (free) and Sive Byrne found the target.
But Laois flexed their muscles further, hitting an answered 2-5 before the break.
Both goals came from full-forward and player of the match Aimee Collier — the first coming from the penalty spot after the elusive Delaney was fouled bearing down on goal.
Then, in the 28th minute, Eimear Hassett's long-range point attempt was batted into the path of Collier, and she made no mistake from close range.
There was still time for the full-forward line of Collier, Hassett and Delaney to add further points to leave Laois in the box seat at the change of ends, leading by 15 points.
Laois never relented defensively in the second half, so much so that Wicklow didn't have their first attempt on goal until the 17th minute of the half.
Gráinne Delaney demonstrated her side's intent with a score less than ten seconds after the throw-in. Collier added a free before Eimear Hassett grabbed a score that summed up her side's tenacity, winning back possession before splitting the posts from 30 metres.
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Collier stretched her side's lead with another free before Hassett produced a tidy finish for Laois' fourth goal in the 38th minute.
Lifely produced a smart save to deny Kirsten Keenan but the Laois centre-forward did get her name on the scoresheet when she pointed after great work from Hassett and Collier.
Amy Daly marked her introduction with a point as the one-way traffic continued — Laois leading by 4-15 to 0-3 entering the final ten minutes.
Wicklow kept plugging away and Aedin Lowry had to produce a smart save to deny Sive Byrne, while a close-range free from Sophie Bermingham was snuffed out by the Laois defence. There were no further scores as Laois returned to the final.
Wicklow are at a different stage in their development compared to Laois, but manager Rob O'Neill feels that a notable upward move is on the horizon.
'The average age of the Wicklow team is around 19 or 20. Our half-back line, who were outstanding, were made up of 17-year-olds.
'The quantity and quality of players that are coming through the ranks from underage in Wicklow is phenomenal.
'It won't be too long before Wicklow are challenging for national titles.
'Take nothing away from Laois who are a serious outfit and are probably expecting nothing less than an All-Ireland title, but my focus is on Wicklow.
'We're in a rebuilding cycle. We talk about individuals winning games and teams winning championships. That's what we're looking at — we're looking to put together a championship-winning team.'