Camogie in the College has had a meteoric rise since its inception in 2010. This year we won both the Senior C and Junior C Dublin Colleges League. While many of our initial matches saw our teams enjoy comfortable leads, both finals were a true test of character and determination.
The Junior final was played on the Ballyboden St. Enda’s All Weather Pitch on a day of gale force wind. Playing with the aid of the wind in the first half saw us with a lead of 5 – 4 to 1 -0 by half time. The second half was a battle of wills with St. Mary’s, Naas, coming back into the game and scoring three goals in quick succession. Our players defended solidly, repeatedly supporting each other and the forwards built on this with some clinically taken scores. The final score of 9 – 4 to 5 -4 did not reflect the competitive and closely contested nature of the game.
The Senior final, played in Russell Park, had our opposition from Coláiste Cois Life, Lucan, get off to a great start. In the opening twenty minutes we struggled to get to grips with the game. During this period Coláiste Cois Life scored 2 – 1 and in the final minutes of the half we were fortunate, through good combination work in the forward line, to score a goal. This score gave us great hope for the second half and our players responded well by levelling the score mid-way through the half. With good pressure being applied by our forward line the Coláiste Cois Life goalkeeper was forced to bring off some good saves. Finally, we got the vital goal and with five minutes left to play our backline stood up to a wave of focused attacks by the Coláiste Cois Life forward line. The final twist in the game came with a rasping shot from a Coláiste Cois Life forward hitting our cross bar and being cleared under pressure by our goalkeeper. On the final whistle the score line of 4 -1 to 3 -1 was richly deserved given the spirited and determined efforts of our players.
As we go to press our U 14 team are competing in Division A in the Dublin Colleges League. This division will provide tough competition and we are delighted to have the opportunity to pitch our skills against the best in Dublin. All of us involved in camogie in Castleknock Community College are very grateful for the wonderful work put in by the mentors and coaches in both Castleknock Hurling and Football Club and St. Bridget’s G.A.A. Club. We are also aware of the generosity of both clubs in allowing us the use of their facilities for matches and we thank them for their on-going support.
