On a bright September evening Lucan Under 14A team travelled to Ballyboden for a Top of the Table clash to decide the League winners for 2015.

With both teams fielding full strength panels, this was always going to be a high intensity game and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

From the throw in both teams hit the ground running, each ball was contested as if lives depended on it, no quarter was asked or given as play flowed from end to end.

In the first 10 minutes both defences were holding firm, Aoife Byrne, Heather Kenny and Laura Lawless bravely defended against each Boden attack.

When Carla Delmar caught a sweet clearance from Hannah Brady and went on a run she was pulled down by a Boden defender, the resulting free was scored by Aoife Mahon.

Boden then responded with a point from play, however another Lucan attack quickly resulted in Carla finding the Boden net. In this tit for tat game Boden soon struck back with a goal, after Faye O’Reilly had blocked down a number of attacks.

Lucan’s half-back line of Willow Byrne, Hannah Brady and Chloe O’Connor were tenacious in defence, delivering balls forward and enabling Laura Quinn to add a point to the scoring tally. Ciara Crosbie at centre half forward battled for every ball in a fine contest with her opponent, with Rachel Feighery and Laura Boland contesting strongly in the full forward line, Lucan were unlucky not to have a better margin at half time.

The referee at half time commented on the high standard of Camogie being played by both teams, with the pace of the game taking him by surprise.

In the second half Lucan were out of the traps quickly with Laura Boland finding the net, following a clever delivery from Aoife Coffey,  who throughout the match covered every corner of the pitch, in an extremely fine display of camogie.

With Siofra Byrne and Aoife Mahon tackling tirelessly in midfield, Boden found it difficult to get into the Lucan half.

A puckout from the Boden goalkeeper was caught in midfield by Aoife and delivered back over the bar.

After a darting zig zag run through the Boden defence, Laura Quinn tacked on another point from play before Boden got their first point of the second half from a free, followed by another point from a 45.

Lucan added fresh legs with Ciara McDonagh, Aisling Gray, and Anna Cuffe joining the fray and doing their bit for the cause.

Laura Boland netted again, Aoife Mahon added another fine point from play, to put Lucan 8 points clear with 5 minutes to play. Boden had a late scoring spree, a point from play, followed by two goals in injury time.  As the light faded rapidly, Lucan held on to run out with the narrowest of margins, final score 3-5 to 3-4. What a fantastic end to the league!

Team: Faye O’ Reilly, Aoife Byrne, Heather Kenny, Laura Lawless, Chloe O’ Connor, Hannah Brady, Willow Byrne, Aoife Mahon, Siofra Byrne, Laura Quinn, Ciara Crosbie, Carla Delmar, Aoife Coffey, Laura Boland , Rachel Feighery, Ciara McDonagh, Aisling Gray, Anna Cuffe