Camogie Eire Og capture camogie crown

The finals of the North American Camogie Association championship were held in Boston over the weekend, with Boston’s Eire Og scoring a late goal to upset Emerald Isle, 2-3 to 1-3, on Sunday.

Emeralds opened smartly with a quick point from Eleanor Brennan but didn’t score again until before halftime when Val Fitzpatrick goaled. Meanwhile, the ever-dangerous Martina Harkin kept Eire Og in touch with two points. The Eire Og backline, marshalled by captain Trish Carroll, held the Emeralds forwards in check and ensured they strung together for cohesive movements. Second-half points from Paula O’Callaghan and Lisa Morrissey gave Emeralds a 3-point lead until Martina Harkin burst through to drill the equalizing goal past Karen Ryan with 5 minutes left.

Then, in a nightmare ending for Emeralds, a weak shot from Caroline Egan found its way to the net and propelled Eire Og into the lead for the first and most crucial time in the game.

Eire Og 6-8, Breffni Blues 2-5

In Saturday’s semifinals, Eire Og overcame the challenge of New York’s Breffni Blues after leading 8 points at the break. Emerald Isle turned in a ferocious display in dispatching New York 1-9 to 2-1. A powerful first half driven by their dominant halfback line and midfield enabled Val Fitzpatrick and Eleanor Brennan to pick off most of their 7-point tally without a Young Ireland’s reply. Ger McCluskey replied with 2-1 for the losers in the second half, but it was not enough.

In the Shield final, Young Irelands beat their city rivals Breffni Blues 3-4 to 0-1.