Dublin found themselves adrift by half-time of todays second round championship encounter with Kilkenny
Dublin 0-11
Kilkenny 3-14
For the second game in a row the Dublin Senior Camogie team found themselves adrift by half-time of todays second round championship clash with Kilkenny in Parnell Park.
Facing a nine point deficit at the break this second round championship encounter was all but finished a minute into the second half when Denise Gaule smashed the ball from a free into the top right hand corner of the net to push the Kilkenny lead out to an unassailable twelve point lead.
Dublin battled to the end but never posed a serious scoring threat to Kilkenny and Kilkenny cruised to the finish to secure a fairly comfortable victory.
The Dubs started brightly and Ashling O’Neill swung over a fine point inside the opening twenty seconds. The two teams matched each other in the opening ten minutes on the scoreboard with points for Kilkenny coming from Denise Gaule (2), Katie Power and Kellyann Doyle and Dublin responded with two points from Grace O’Shea and an Aisling Maher free to leave the scores level at 0-04 apiece.
But Kilkenny grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck over the next twelve minutes scoring an unanswered 2-04. A pointed Denise Gaule free was quickly followed with an excellent point from Katie Nolan.
Gaule added another point from play and Dublin then conceded two very soft goals scored by Aoife Prendergast and Katie Nolan which Dublin will be very disappointed with from a defensive and goalkeeping point of view.
Kilkenny extended their lead with a converted 45’ from Denise Gaule after more poor defensive play from Dublin.
Dublin’s Aisling Maher momentarily stopped the one way scoring with a fine point from play but Kilkenny responded with an equally good point from Katie Nolan.
An Ashling Gannon point and a successful free attempt from Maher reduced the deficit. But in first half injury-time corner forward Julianne Malone split the post to give Kilkenny a nine point lead at the break of this second round championship clash with the score 2-10 to 0-07.
Dublin needed to keep things tight at the beginning of the second half to have any chance of getting back into the game, but inside the opening minute of the second period they gave away a needless free which despite three players on the line Denise Gaule smashed into the top right hand corner of the net to give Kilkenny a unassailable twelve point lead and end any thoughts of a Dublin comeback.
In fairness to Dublin they didn’t drop the heads and two converted frees from Aisling Maher and an excellent point from Ashling O’Neill who drove forward from deep through the centre of the Kilkenny midfield and half-back line was the perfect response.
But three Denise Gaule points, one from a free, one from a 45’ and one from play and a neat finish from substitute Asha McHardy made sure of a comfortable win for Kilkenny.
Dublin’s Aisling Maher fired over the last score of the game to reduce the losing margin to twelve points. For the Dubs it’s back to drawing board this week in preparation for next weeks massive game against Wexford with both sides looking to avoid the unwelcome prospect of a relegation play-off.
Scorers – Dublin: Aisling Maher 0-06 (4f), Ashling O’Neill 0-02, Grace O’Shea 0-02, Ashling Gannon 0-01 – Kilkenny: Denise Gaule 1-08 (1-03f 2 ’45), Katie Nolan 1-02, Aoife Prendergast 1-00, Katie Power 0-01, Kellyann Doyle 0-01, Julianne Malone 0-01.
Dublin: Ciara Tierney, Abby Ryan, Aoife Heffernan, Christine Shanahan, Claire Gannon, Eve O’Brien, Hannah O’Dea, Muireann Kelliher, Gaby Couch, Leah Butler, Elyse Jamieson Murphy, Ashling Gannon, Grace O’Shea, Ashling O’Neill, Aisling Maher.
Dublin Substitutions: Zoe Couch for Christine Shanahan (21), Orla Gray for Hannah O Dea (30), Jody Couch for Aoife Heffernan (HT), Niamh Comerford for Leah Butler (46).
Kilkenny: Aoife Norris, Michelle Teehan, Grace Walsh, Tiffany Fitzgerald, Niamh Deely, Claire Phelan, Laura Murphy, Steffi Fitzgerald, Kellyann Doyle, Aoife Prendergast, Denise Gaule, Katie Power, Katie Nolan, Julianne Malone, Michaela Kenneally.
Kilkenny Substitutions: Asha McHardy for Michaela Kenneally (40), Jenny Clifford for Kellyann Doyle (47), Miriam Bambrick for Steffi Fitzgerald (53), Sophie O’ Dwyer for Katie Nolan (57).
