Lucan slalom their way to victory

Lucan Sarsfields Senior 3: 2-8

Castleknock : 0-5

On a night more suited to synchronised swimming than Camogie, our Lucan girls proved to be poetry in motion against a good battling Castleknock side. Lucan started slowly and played second fiddle to Castleknock but our hosts could only manage a single point from their period of domination thanks to the mercurial defending of Kelsey Fahy, Catherine Carron and Kate Britton and the sheer brilliance of Nicole Fitzgibbon in the Lucan goal.

Once our girls had shaken the water from their boots they took control of this match. Aoife McKearney fired over three quick points, the second set up after battling work from Claire Leonard, followed by a point from the combative Fiona Daly. It’s great to see Fiona coming back to her best. Grainne Eley then chipped in with a goal and a point before Castleknock responded with a couple of late first-half points. All through the half Fiona Dowler and Jess Condron battled hard in midfield to supply good ball into our forwards.

The second half started with Lucan playing against the wind but that didn’t bother our girls and Aoife McKearney, Meabh Dowler and Grainne Eley added points to give us a commanding 1-8 to 0-3 point lead after 50 minutes. Then the move of the match saw Avril Quinn play a great ball into space for Lucy Fleming to gather and fire in a pin-point ball to Grainne Eley, who rounded the Castleknock defence and finished to the net to end the game as a contest.

Castleknock tried hard to respond, but could not get past Laura Morgan, Avril Quinn and Katie Feeney in the Lucan defence. When they did, our second half goalie, Jane Doran, was unbeatable in the Lucan goal, pulling off three wonderful saves.

A final word of praise for my player of the match, Emily McIntyre, who stepped off the bus following three weeks in the Gaeltacht to produce a performance laden with skill, determination and effort for the full 60 minutes. She is certainly back to her best after her recent injury.

Team: Nicole Fitzgibbon, Kelsey Fahy, Kate Britton, Catherine Carron, Avril Quinn, Laura Morgan, Katie Feeney, Fiona Dowler, Jess Condron, Meabh Dowler(0-1), Aoife McKearney(0-4), Emily McIntyre, Fiona Daly(0-1), Grainne Eley(2-2), Claire Leonard, Lucy Fleming