Kelly Scores Prove Vital For Tramore

Just under seven miles of road separate the G.A.A. Field of neighbouring clubs Tramore and Butlerstown, and like when any neighbouring sides meet, when the Camogie Clubs in the two Parishes clashed in last Sunday’s Intermediate ‘B’ County Final at the WIT Arena things were expected to be tight and this is how it worked out to be.

Things are on the way up in the Tramore area right now. Just a week before this game the town’s Junior Hurlers contested the County Final against a very good Ballinameela side at Fraher Field where they were to finish second best, but on this occasion the town’s ladies were determined not to finish in a similar position.

Player of the match in this game was Tramore Full Forward Sally Kelly who finished the game with 2-7 behind her name on the score sheet. The Tramore youngster is clearly a player to keep an eye on in the years to come and not just with a hurley in her hand as earlier this year she lined out with the counties senior ladies football team in the National League.

This win was the sea-siders second county final win in twelve months as they won the Junior title this time last year, showing that something right is being done within the club.

But they will not need any telling that maybe if there was more time played they could have found themselves in a different position as Butlerstown left it a little late to give their opponents a scare, as they netted two late goals.  

Tramore were quickest out of the traps in this one as Kate Marie Hearne forced Kate Walsh into an early save but the eventual winners did manage to get on the scoreboard moments later when Sally Kelly split the posts from a free.

Butlerstown who lost out to Dungarvan in the Junior League Final earlier in the year looked as if they would end the year with some silverware for the sideboard when on eight minutes Elizabeth McGrath one of a number of players involved in this game who have represented the county at different levels played in a long ball which Niamh Crowley got on the end of and finished past Shannon Acheson to give her side a 1-0 to 0-1 lead.

Two more scores off the stick of Sally Kelly levelled the game and while Butlerstown at the other end were creating chances they found it hard to get the sliotar past Shannon Acheson who made a double save first from Elizabeth McGrath and then from Clair Nolan on the follow up.

Goals from Tara Power and Kate Marie Hearne netted second quarter goals for Tramore in this game which proved to be the difference between the sides at the break as the eventual winners turned around holding a 2-5 to 1-2 lead at the break.

The first Tramore goal on 16 minutes was struck by Tara Power who beat Kate Walsh with a powerfully stuck shot to but her side three in front. Some brilliant defending by the Butlerstown defence managed to keep Tramore from hitting further major scores after this, but there were powerless at stopping Kate Marie Hearne from placing the ball in the net on twenty seven minutes after she raced through the Butlerstown defence.

Butlerstown however gave themselves hope going into the second half as both Elizabeth McGrath and Katie Browne had the umpire reaching for the white flag in added time at the end of the opening thirty minutes.

Niamh Crowley hit an early second half score for Butlerstown, but they would not score again for another twenty minutes and by this time they had left themselves with too much to do.

Sally Kelly followed up with a brace of scores before she stuck Tramore’s third goal of the game with thirteen minutes to go when with precision she placed the sliotar high into Kate Walsh’s net which put her side 3-7 to 1-3 in front.  

Points from Kate Marie Hearne and Sally Kelly had the winners well in front with just under 10 minutes of normal time to play, but credit to Butlerstown they never threw in the towel and their perseverance almost paid off.

Elizabeth McGrath and Sadie Mai Rowe caused the Tramore defence plenty of headaches in the closing minutes of the game and when with three minutes of the game remaining Elizabeth McGrath was picked out by Katie Browne she made no mistake in beating Shannon Acheson who was doing her best to narrow the angle which the Butlerstown player had to shoot at.

A minute later Katie Browne went from goal provider to goal scorer when she finished past Shannon Acheson in a goalmouth scramble to leave just four between the sides.

If Butlerstown were to get the next then a grandstand finish could well be on the cards as only the one score would separate the sides but it was not to be for them as at the other end of the field when Player of the Match Sally Kelly netted her second of the game and her sides fourth of the afternoon but not before she had to react quickest to a rebounding ball which came off the woodwork from a shot she had stuck herself in stoppage time at the end of the sixty allotted minutes.

Tramore: Shannon Acheson; Muireann Cuddihy, Leah Barry, Saoirse O'Brien; Clara Griffin, Abbie Dunphy, Hannah Leamy; Eimear Gallagher, Kristin Farrell; Tara Power, Kate-Marie Hearne, Alannah Jones; Jordan Scholtz, Sally Kelly, Sarah Power.

Subs: Saoirse English for Sarah Power, Majella Pollard for Tara Power, Donna Cowman for Jordan Scholtz.

Scorers: Sally Kelly 2-7 (3fs, 2 45s), Kate Marie Hearne 1-2, Tara Power 1-0.

Butlerstown: Kate Walsh; Emer Kearney, Tara Lacey, Jean Burns; Sadie Mai Rowe, Aoife Shanahan, Shauna Farrell; Nicola Collins, Caroline Farrelly; Claire Nolan, Sally Brown, Kate McMahon; Elizabeth McGrath, Katie Browne, Niamh Crowley.

Scorers: Niamh Crowley, Katie Browne 1-2 each, Elizabeth McGrath 1-1.

Referee: Anthony Fitzgerald