Laois down Westmeath in camogie decider

Laois 4-9 Westmeath 0-4

Westmeath’s minor camogie side succumbed to Laois in the Leinster Minor B Final in Carlow on Sunday as the battle of the midland sides was won in comfortable fashion by the team in blue. Under the sunshine in the Carlow Centre of Excellence in Fenagh, Jimbob Baker, Denise Muldoon, and co on the sideline could only watch as a Laois side, usually playing in Division 1 at this level, were far too ferocious and pacey for the Lake County girls, despite their best efforts.

Having travelled to Carlow for this refixed game, Westmeath named a strong starting fifteen with a mix of experience and some rising stars for the future. It was Laura Doyle in the Westmeath goals who was the busiest player on the field in the early minutes as she kept out Lara Culleton and Katie Kavanagh’s shots from close-range after both had managed to grab possession and burst past their markers.

Kavanagh did get the scoreboard ticking soon after with a point before Erin Walsh and Emma-Jane Cuddy tagged on two more. It was a tough tackling game with many ground battles, the majority of which Laois came out on top of with half-back, Ella Phelan, key in their setup. Following Ellen Mulvaney’s shot being saved, Laois found the net for their first when Kaylah O’Mara made no mistake to finally find a way beyond the Raharney goalkeeper.

The strong breeze in favour of Laois made it all the more difficult but Roisín Connaughton took on the elements before splitting the posts from a '45. Westmeath continued to be under the cosh when Laois got forward with Áine Forde, Aoife O’Connor, and Rose Macken having to be at their best to halt the runs. An effort from Grace Downes missed just to the right before Laois added more white flags from Kavanagh and Kirby prior to the whistle. 1-5 to 0-1 to Laois going into the break.

Westmeath, in need of more aggression in the tackles, came out much more determined and a mighty point from long-range from Connaughton doubled hers and Westmeath’s tally.

Sadly, for the maroon stars it was not to bring further scores as O’Mara found Cuddy to smash home before Culleton also found the net. Many on the sideline could see the clear pick off the ground in the leadup but no decision came for Westmeath. Abbie McCauley used all her quick-thinking to swing a loose ball in the sky over the bar in the blink of an eye to register Westmeath’s third point but Laois were out of sight when Eimear Murphy (free), Kavanagh, and Cuddy (goal) put the score at 4-7 to 0-3 and effectively ended the contest.

Both sides used the chance to bring in substitutes and for Westmeath, despite not reducing the scoreline, they can look at the efforts of Anjali Gopalakrishnan, Maggie Bartley, and Alice Galvin as being particularly effective.

Eva Cawley was fouled in the final ten minutes to allow Connaughton to point her last free before late Laois scores from Aoife Kirby and substitute, Ruby Doyle, put a final gloss on the scoreline.

Scorers – Laois: EJ Cuddy 2-1 (1f), K O’Mara, L Culleton 1-0 each, K Kavanagh 0-3, E Murphy 0-2 (1f), E Walsh, A Kirby, R Doyle 0-1 each

Westmeath: R Connaughton 0-3f, A McCauley 0-1

Laois: Grace Foxe; Emer Conroy, Julie Ann Bennett, Chloe Troy; Sive O’Reilly, Ella Phelan, Katie Lyons; Erin Walsh, Aoife Kirby; Eimear Murphy, Kaylah O’Mara, Aoibheann Stynes; Emma Jane Cuddy, Lara Culleton, Katie Kavanagh. Subs used: Ruby Doyle for Stynes (35), Aoife Morris for Troy (49), Lucy Donoghue for Culleton (49), Kayleigh Dunne for Cuddy (49), Niamh O’Shea for Conroy (49), Muireann Bennett for Kavanagh (52), Catherine Kirby for O’Mara (52).

Westmeath: Laura Doyle; Aoife O’Connor, Claire Loughrey, Katie Muldoon; Rose Macken, Áine Forde, Grace Doyle; Grace Bracken, Eva Cawley; Roisín Connaughton, Grace Downes, Ellen Mulvaney; Rebecca Ward, Abbie McCauley, Caoimhe Clarke. Subs used: Alice Galvin for Clarke (40), Ella Murtagh for McCauley (40), Annabel Hynes for Downes (42), Maggie Bartley for Muldoon (46), Tara Reilly for Bracken (50), Aoibhinn Murray for G Doyle (50), Anjali Gopalakrishnan for Macken (52), Muireann Reihill for Connaughton (52).

Referee: Brian Deering (Carlow)