Brendan Cummins wins Poc Fada but doubts over ladies title

Tipperary’s Brendan Cummins claimed a record ninth M Donnelly All-Ireland Poc Fada title on Saturday in the Cooley Mountains, but the event wasn’t without controversy with uncertainty over who claimed the camogie title.

Both seven-in-a-row title chaser Patricia Jackman from Waterford, and Galway’s Catriona Daly will have to wait to discover who will take silverware, after confusion over the final scores.

Initial reports suggested Jackman had taken honours, on a score of 27 pucks and 34 metres, with Daly finishing in 27 pucks and 32 metres.

However, Jackman’s score was posted as 28 pucks and 34 metres, thus leading to Daly believing she had claimed a first ever title.

The controversy comes in the wake of the decision to award Ski trips to the Senior provincial hurling winners, but not their camogie counterparts.

Ulster Camogie Chairperson Kathleen Woods represented the Camogie Association in the absence of President Catherine Neary on the day, and says clarity is being sought before a winner will be declared.

“The outcome of the senior camogie competition is not 100% clear,” she said.

“In the ethos of fairness and fair play to all competitors, the presentation has been deferred until we can seek clarity.”

Cummins’s ninth Senior title, and a fifth-in-a-row wasn’t delivered with ease, with the former Premier County net-minder pushed all the way, before having one shot to spare over Laois goalkeeper Eoin Reilly and Clare’s Andrew Fahey, with 57 shots.

“It’s the closest it has ever has been too be honest,” he said.

“The two boys who came second and third dropped the ball into the ravine, while I managed to clear it.”

And will 40-year old Cummins be back to seek a perfect 10 of titles? “I’ll keep going while the body stays going,” he said. The challenge for me against the mountain is doing something I love. I know when I hang up the hurl it will be something I really miss, whenever that time comes.