Offaly get league campaign off to a flying start

Very Ireland Division 2A Camogie League

Offaly 1-17, Kerry 0-11

Offaly Camogie got their season off to a good start with victory against Kerry at Grant’s Heating St Brendan’s Park, Birr, yesterday.

David Sullivan and his team will no doubt be keen to bring their team further in 2025 after a year in 2024 that saw them rebuild an Offaly team that finished at the All Ireland semi final stage.

Their panel saw quite a number of changes both to the panel and starting team as Offaly continue their rebuild. They were boosted by the return to the Offaly jersey of the experienced Mairead Teehan, who had missed last year through injury and Christine Cleary who had returned from travelling.

Kerry's 2024 campaign ended also by exiting at the All Ireland semi final stage where they lost in extra time to Kilkenny. A noticeable absentee from their starting line up on Saturday was their joint captain Jackie Horgan.

Playing with the aid of a breeze in the opening half, Offaly encountered stiff opposition from Kerry. In the opening stages of the game the sides exchanged scores with Offaly’s scores coming from Mairead Teehan, a Clodagh Leahy free and a brace from Fianait Dooley. However 12 minutes into the game Offaly found form and advanced to a nice lead with six points on the board to Kerry’s 0-3.

But Kerry continued to keep up the pressure and narrowed the Offaly lead to two points. Offaly did have an opportunity to strengthen their lead when a ball fed into their full forward line was ably caught on the edge of the square by Becky Bryant but Kerry defence gave her no opportunity to strike.

Offaly also had a number of wides but did succeed in adding further points on the scoreboard to leave them 0-12 to Kerry’s 0-6 ahead at half time. The question was whether this would be enough to sustain them against the breeze in the second half.

The second half saw Offaly put in a sterling performance right throughout the field. Kerry struggled to put scores on the board and indeed were thwarted in securing a goal by the combined efforts of good goalkeeping of Leah Gallagher and her defence players.

At the other end of the field Fianait Dooley put over a great point from play and Clodagh Leahy took some fine points from frees. A penalty awarded to Offaly saw Leahy step up and strike the sliothar out of the reach of the Kerry goalkeeper Aoife Fitzgerald.

Kerry’s captain Patrice Diggin kept the Kerry flag flying with some fine points but it was not enough to see them draw back the strong lead that Offaly amassed. And so Offaly got their National League off to the ideal start securing full points with the final score reading Offaly 1-17 Kerry 0-11.

Speaking after the game David Sullivan said he was happy with the win and how it gives the team confidence and self belief in what the group are trying to do. He was conscious however that it was early days and that they were not going to get carried away after one win as they had a busy schedule ahead of them. They now make the long journey north to play Derry in their second round match on Saturday next.

Offaly team: Leah Gallagher, Aoife Liffey, Cathy Fogarty, Megan King, Ellen Regan, Amy Byrne, Orlagh Phelan (Captain), Faye Mulrooney, Clodagh Leahy, Fianait Dooley, Christine Cleary, Grace Teehan, Roisin Kinsella, Becky Bryant, Mairead Teehan

Subs: Caoimhe O’Donovan for Becky Bryant, Grainne Kennedy for Roisin Kinsella, Hannah Feenane for Ellen Regan, Emma Buggy for Aoife Liffey, Elizabeth Kilmartin for Emer Reynolds, Kaitlyn Kennedy, Aoife O’Donovan, Kelly Sammon, Aoife Hoctor, Ciara Maher, Orla Kilmartin, Nicola Cleary, Sharon Shanahan & Ellen Gilligan

Kerry team: Aoife Fitzgerald, Michelle Costello, Sara Murphy, Rachel McCarthy, Aine O’Connor, Niamh Leen, Aoife Behan, Ciara O’Sullivan, Ruth O’Connor, Caoimhe Spillane, Patrice Diggin (Captain), Ellen O’Donoghue, Amy McCarthy, Kate Lynch, Amy O’Sullivan.

Subs: Ciara Moloney, Roisin Quinn, Sarah Walsh, Kathryn Ryan, Chloe McCarthy, Aine Devlin, Tara Burke, Hannah Ryan, Lauren Bowler, Ann Marie Leon, Sharon Collins and Emma Conway.

Offaly scorers: Clodagh Leahy 1-6 (1-0 pen, 0-6 frees), Fianait Dooley 0-4, Mairead Teehan 0-2, Grace Teehan 0-2, Faye Mulrooney 0-1, Ellen Regan 0-1, Becky Bryant 0-1

Kerry scorers: Patrice Diggin 0-9 (0-6 frees), Amy Sullivan 0-1. Caoimhe Spillane 0-1