The Camogie thread

[Plain of the Herbs]

Boy was that was nailbiting stuff. For those who didn’t see it, Offaly led by 9 points at half time, 2-7 to 0-4. Elaine Dermody scored both goals, the backs were outstanding while Dermody, Siobhan Flannery and Tina Hannon were the pick of the forwards. Jean Brady also announced herself with a hardworking performance. The Wexford switch of the numbers 10 and 14 made a big difference as they recovered from a poor start.

Though Wexford were on the front foot after the restart, aided by a number of loose Offaly clearances, there was still 9 points in it almost ten minutes into that second half and it seemed Offaly had weathered the storm. Then Wexford began to find the range, a goal brought them back into it, a string of points followed and with the gap down to 3, another goal levelled it at 2-9 apiece. Shades of the League final and the Championship first round defeats all over again.

Yet Offaly were still hurling well in defence (Lorraine Keena and Shiela Sullivan were superb, as was Fiona Stephens) and the midfield and half-forwards (Arlene Watkins in particular) began to find some room as Wexford pushed forward. Three superb points from Siobhan Flannery, Ailsa Hughes and Emma Dunne (not necessarily in that order) killed the Wexford momentum somewhat as the Offaly subs made an impact. Wexford did cut the gap to two in stoppage time, but Offaly held on. Phew!!

Must say, great credit to the girls, who refused to give in when the pressure came on. The title was hard-earned but so well-deserved.

[Offaly2010]

Well done to Offaly yesterday, looked like we could have ran away with it at half time yesterday but fair play to Wexford, they came back strongly and fought to the end but in the end, a well deserved victory for Offaly.

I would just like to say fair play to POTH, he has put in an awful amount of time into The Camogie Thread this year.

Fair play, POTH.

[Lone Shark]

Well done POTH indeed, but outstanding work by the girls themselves and they deserve huge praise for everything they've done in the last few years. Joachim has clearly done tremendous work but no manager can make a silk purse out of sow's ear and as well as being talented, these girls have clearly put an awful lot of work in. Yesterday showed both their ability and talent in the first half and their character and resilience in the second when Wexford had huge momentum behind them.

It's a big step up to senior next year but these girls have earned the right to have a go at the big guns and if they keep improving as they have done, and they should as they are a young team getting better with every game, then they could cause a few nice surprises.

Well done again ladies - ye did the county proud yesterday.

[My Left Foot]

Absolutely well done to the ladies team - a big step up next year but well earned and well deserved.

They should be an inspiration to our mens teams to show that hard work will pay off

[Plain of the Herbs]

Ah, it was far from a time-consuming exercise in fairness. I suppose it’s all the more interesting when I’ve two neighbours on the panel and another is the manager. I would always have had a passing interest in camogie since the schooldays anyway. Thanks too to Faithfulforever for the news from inside the camp during the year – hope you enjoyed the celebrations.

I would just like to say fair play to POTH, he has put in an awful amount of time into The Camogie Thread this year.

Fair play, POTH.

Lone Shark summed it up best when he noted the different qualities in each half that were required to win. Word too is that the commitment of the girls is absolute and there is no messing. It’s very difficult to get that from a big group like that, and discipline like that can only come from within – it can’t be enforced successfully.

It’s a big step up to Senior now. I suppose the thing to do is to benchmark themselves against the weaker Senior teams like Clare and Dublin, if they remain Senior. There will likely be eight Senior counties next year so they may split them into two groups of eight, as they have done when Limerick were Senior. This year there was one group of seven, played over seven straight weekends. schedule like that would be tough on Offaly – one or two injuries to key players and the floodgates could open. Still, looking at the age profiles of the team, really only Kennedy, Crean, Nugent, Dermody and Davis are over 24, and there are plenty of leaders throughout the team anyway. Next year will be interesting.

[Kevin]

Watched the video of the game on RTE.

Some really classy work and outrageous scores taken to go along with the desired result.

Congratulations again to all involved and on to Senior!

[Offaly2010]

Well done to Joachim Kelly who was named Camogie Manager of the Year last night. Well deserved, he has brought Offaly Camogie back to the top, no reason why we cant kick on and give Senior a right go next year aswell!

[Plain of the Herbs]

Congrats to Joe on his award. His big achievement has been to bring organisation to a post which had suffered from neglect in previous years even though the hurling talent was there. Players will respond to this (as they have in this case) by committing to the cause.

Note how Offaly’s successful teams at all grades have come about by getting an organised management in place. It’s no coincidence.

Let no-one be under any illusions about the challenge facing the girls at Senior level next year. I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade but people should note that Offaly were competitive with Tipperary’s & Cork’s B team (for example) this year. They lost twice to Wexford’s B team and overcame that Wexford team after five had regarded to Senior. They’ll be really up against it next year. I’d say the first target will be Senior survival, by being competitive with Clare and Dublin.

[Kevin]

Congrats to Joe on his award. His big achievement has been to bring organisation to a post which had suffered from neglect in previous years even though the hurling talent was there. Players will respond to this (as they have in this case) by committing to the cause.

Note how Offaly’s successful teams at all grades have come about by getting an organised management in place. It’s no coincidence.

Let no-one be under any illusions about the challenge facing the girls at Senior level next year. I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade but people should note that Offaly were competitive with Tipperary’s & Cork’s B team (for example) this year. They lost twice to Wexford’s B team and overcame that Wexford team after five had regarded to Senior. They’ll be really up against it next year. I’d say the first target will be Senior survival, by being competitive with Clare and Dublin.

Expectations appropriately set above:

Survival = Success

ONWARD!!!!!!