Camogie

A real battle of attrition in the opening game of the Ashbourne weekend as hosts NUI Galway kept up their weekend interest by shading this extremely close contest.

In truth, the game could have gone either way and UUJ will certainly feel that they had the chances to win this tie but in the end, a strong finish from NUIG’s Clare contingent sealed the narrowest of victories.
After being level on four occasions in the opening half, Sara-Louise Carr’s injury-time point saw the Ulster side edge a 0-6 to 0-5 encounter and the game seemed to be slipping away from the home side when Siofra O’Dolan doubled UUJ's lead approaching the final quarter.
However, the move of Anne Marie McMahon to full-forward proved to be a masterstroke for Galway when she earned her side a 20 metre free that fellow Clare county-mate Chloe Morey converted to the net to give them a 1-5 to 0-7 lead.
And while Sara-Louise Carr gained parity once more with her fourth placed ball of the afternoon soon afterwards, It was another Clare senior Shonagh Enright who grabbed the headlines in the 60th minute when she gathered a Chloe Morey free to put NUI Galway ahead for the final time.
UUJ had two late opportunities to equalise but their accuracy deserted them as the home side held out for a famous victory.

NUI Galway: Roisin Connaughton (Roscommon), Triona McDonald (Offaly), Maureen Hennegan (Derry), Siobhan Coen (Galway), Catriona Lee (Galway), Michaela Morkan (Offaly), Anne Marie McMahon (Clare), Chloe Morey (Clare) (1-3f), Aisling Dunphy (Kilkenny), Attracta McPeake (Derry) (0-1), Lorraine Ryan (Galway) (0-2f), Shonagh Enright (Clare) (0-1), Deirdre Twomey (Cork), Elevlynn Glynn (Clare), Noreen Coen (Galway)
Subs Michelle Dolan (Offaly) for Dunphy (40 mins), Andrea Marnell (Kilkenny) for Glynn (52 mins)