All-Ireland junior camogie final: Laois 2-15 Armagh 0-12
In a game that ebbed and flowed, Laois started and finished well to banish the heartache of last year’s one-point defeat and earn a deserved victory in the All-Ireland junior camogie final.
It was a third defeat for Armagh in the decider since their triumph in 2020, but there were periods when it looked like they would get over the line this time.
Once Laois solved the conundrum of Eimear Hayes cutting out so many of their deliveries and getting passages of play going that led to Rachael Merry and Sinéad Quinn being such a threat, they began to get a real toehold in proceedings.
The unrelated Delaneys, Gráinne and Susie, were outstanding, the latter on a day her aunt, Jovita was being honoured as part of the Tipperary jubilee team.
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Aimee Collier, who had endured a tough day over the placed balls 12 months ago, was unerring this time around, and along from finishing with seven points, her ball-winning and offloading when moved to the wing was pivotal.
The final piece of the jigsaw was the impact off the bench, the most notable being minor recruit Amy Daly who rattled the net in the 50th minute. Lucy Conroy had pointed earlier, her piledriver glancing off the upright.
Laois got off to the best possible start when Gráinne Delaney goaled after 54 seconds. The Camross attacker was set free by Susie Delaney and with her marker seemingly expecting her to cut back onto her left immediately, she drove directly into space before firing off the left to the net.
Eimear Hassett pointed sweetly immediately after but a converted free by Rachael Merry settled Armagh. PJ O’Mullan’s crew hit seven of the next eight points to move two clear. Merry slotted two frees either side of an excellent score from Niamh Forker to draw level.
After Collier split the posts from a free at the other end, Merry’s two frees were followed up by an outstanding effort from Quinn.
It was Laois’ turn to hit a purple patch though with three points from skipper Clodagh Tynan, Collier and Gráinne Delaney to edge their noses in front before Merry restored parity just before the interval.
The Orchard outfit enjoyed the ideal resumption, Quinn taking a pass from Merry to raise a white flag and Corinna Doyle striking the game’s marquee point, leaving a trail of Laois defenders in her wake under the Hogan Stand before hitting the target from wide on the right and just inside the 45.
That made it 0-10 to 1-5 and just 33 minutes elapsed. However, that was as good as it got for Armagh as Laois found another couple of gears.
An unbroken run of a goal and six points enabled them to overhaul their opponents and establish enough of a lead that did not look likely to be reeled in.
Collier, Kaylee O’Keeffe and Conroy were on target before Daly blasted to the Armagh net.
There didn’t look loads on when Susie Delaney sent Collier into the corner. The attacker held it up well and looked around, opting for a stick-pass back out the field. It overshot the mark slightly but proved ideal for Gráinne Delaney, who had open country to use her speed.
Suddenly she had created an overlap and hand-passed to her team-mate. Daly made no mistake with only Ciarrai Devlin to beat.
There was no way back from that for Armagh. Merry converted two frees after a glorious Susie Delaney point, but it was Collier that had the final say with a point from play and monster of a score from a free before the celebrations kicked into gear.
LAOIS: A Lowry, F Scully, E Conroy, L Finaly, A Walsh, C Tynan (0-1), S Creagh, A Tynan, Líadan C Fennell, G Delaney (1-2), K Keenan, K O’Keeffe (0-2), S Delaney (0-1), A Collier (0-7, 6f), E Hassett (0-1).
Subs: L Conroy (0-1) for Keenan (28 mins); A Daly (1-0) for E Hassett (42); L Keyes for Walsh (54); S Jones for Fennell (60+1).
ARMAGH: C Devlin, M O’Hare, G McCann, E Hayes, ML Loughran, M McCone, A McEntee, G Gaffney, C Hill, M O’Callaghan, K Convie, N Forker (0-1), R Merry (0-8, 7f), S Quinn (0-2), C Doyle (0-1).
Subs: F Loughran for L Loughran, E McGeary for Gaffney (both 42 mins); L McConnell for Forker (54).
Referee: E Loughnane (Galway).
