Second half goals the difference as Clare edge Dublin to land Camogie Division 1B league title

CHAMPIONS: Clare joint-captain Clare Hehir lifts the cup after her side's victory in the Centra National Camogie League Division 1B final match between Clare and Dublin at UPMC Nowlan Park in Kilkenny. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Clare 3-11 Dublin 0-17

Clare exorcised the ghosts of last year’s Centra Division 1B League final defeat to Antrim with a performance that was full to the brim of zest and desire at UPMC Nowlan Park on Sunday, edging out Dublin through a combination of relentless graft in the middle, and ruthless punishment of defensive hesitation and uncertainty at the top of the pitch.

Dublin might well reflect on the concession of three second-half goals as where it all went wrong, but even before they turned around to play into the fresh breeze in Kilkenny, it was the Banner County who were in the driving seat, just two points adrift on a day when the scoring zone for the side playing into the City End was perhaps half that of their opponents.

Bill McCormack’s Dubs registered some sublime scores in that opening half hour, with Sinéad Wylde, Aisling Maher and Grace O’Shea each splitting the uprights with some wonderful strikes from a variety of angles and distances.

It was in the trenches where Clare held a slight upper hand. Jennifer Daly, Ziyan Spillane and Abby Walsh all threw themselves into the scrums and contests to secure turnovers and keep themselves in touch, creating the possessions from which Lorna McNamara was able to score four first half points, two each from play and from frees.

Joint captain Clare Hehir was imperious in this battleground too, repeatedly turning scrappy ruck ball into good front foot possession for her side.

Gaby Couch and Claire Gannon attempted to balance the scales with Couch in particular taking the fight to Clare, but an 0-7 to 0-5 advantage looked inadequate, given how much easier it would be for Clare to raise flags after the turnaround.

To Dublin’s immense credit, their own attacking play was vastly improved when they were forced to run the ball that bit more into the wind. Maher, O’Shea and Aisling Gannon all picked off points on the run and in heavy traffic, but every time they got a strong foothold in the game, Clare dealt them a hammer blow in the form of a goal at the other end.

The first was typical of the spirit of the day, with Ziyan Spillane doing well to hoist up a shot with Dublin markers on either shoulder, and once the ball was spilled by Ciara Jones, Lorna McNamara out-battled both the goalkeeper and Abby Ryan to find a way to force the sliotar over the line, as much through sheer force of will as anything else.

The introduction of Áine O’Loughlin and Ellen Casey to the Clare forward line was vital, with both players adding extra size to enhance the threat from the long ball game, and there was no lack of energy and vim from the duo either.

It was O’Loughlin who chased down Ciara Jones to pressure the Kilmacud player into gambling on a risky lateral pass across her own goal. McNamara didn’t need to be asked twice to seize possession and whip the ball to an empty net with eight minutes to play.

Even at that, Dublin were now humming up front and extra-time loomed large. Couch foraged for possession in the left corner to set up Wylde’s second point of the afternoon, Maher was on the mark with a tricky free from out on the Old Stand sideline, and at 2-11 to 0-16 approaching stoppage time, Dublin smelled blood in the water.

Right on the hour mark, a free at midfield initially seemed like a chance for McNamara to score from midfield to double the lead, but on a day when the Clare full-forward was generally flawless, she dropped this one short and one last time, the physical presence of Casey and O’Loughlin proved vital.

Casey gathered the ball on the left and with Dublin jerseys crowding her, she was able to get the ball across to O’Loughlin for a simple finish that well and truly condemned Clare’s memory of their loss to Antrim in this fixture 12 months ago to the history books.

SCORERS FOR CLARE: L McNamara 2-6 (3f), Á O’Loughlin 1-1, R Begley, M Millea, A O’Keeffe, C Hehir 0-1 each.

SCORERS FOR DUBLIN: A Maher 0-8 (3f, 2 '45s), G O’Shea 0-3, A Gannon, S Wylde 0-2 each, S Power, A O’Neill 0-1 each.

CLARE: D Murphy, S O’Keeffe, S Daly, N Mulqueen, A Walsh, C Hehir, L Daly, R McMahon, D Griffin; C Cahill, A O’Keeffe, J Daly; Z Spillane, L McNamara, R Begley.

Subs: M Millea for Cahill (9), E Casey for McMahon (40), Á O’Loughlin for Millea (43), M Scanlon for L Daly (47), C Carmody for Begley (59), A Cooney for J Daly (60).

DUBLIN: C Jones; E O’Byrne, A Ryan, E Adderly, S Power, E O’Brien, C Gannon, G Couch, S Wylde, G O’Shea, K Finnegan, J Couch; A Gannon, A O’Neill, A Maher.

Subs: E Moran for Finnegan (51), N Comerford for Power (55), E Kehoe for O’Byrne (59).

Referee: Cathal McAllister (Cork).