Kinsale Community School bid for camogie All-Ireland glory

Kinsale Community School’s camogie team are hoping to be crowned All-Ireland junior schools champions when they take on St Mary’s from Magherafelt, Derry, in the final at Edenderry, Offaly (2pm), tomorrow.

The school’s seniors tasted All-Ireland glory in 2012 and there is a link between the two teams.

One of the coaches, now a teacher at the school, Amy Harrington played in that final.

These young players have been impressive throughout their campaign and are hoping to end their season on a high.

They know it won’t be easy, but it’s a challenge that Harrington and fellow coach Catherine Helbrow have said the girls are up for and one they are looking forward to.

En route to the final, they won the Munster Championship, starting with a high-scoring clash with Mount Mercy at Riverstick where they won 10-11 to 9-6 after a tremendous tussle.

In the quarter-final, they faced St Camin’s Community School from Clare. Again the Cork girls showed their class as the Banner side had no answer in a superb 8-10 to 3-2 winning display.

The semi-final saw them make their way to Charleville to face St Joseph’s Secondary School, Tulla.

Kinsale were never in any danger and won 6-12 to 0-3.

If they were starting to get carried away, they were brought down to earth by St Flannan’s College, Clare in the Munster final at Mallow, but the confidence gained from their earlier games saw Kinsale win the Munster title by the tightest of margins, 2-8 to 2-7.

Celebrating their Munster success they also knew they had an All-Ireland title to chase and a tough semi-final to come against Holy Rosary College from Mountbellew in Galway, and another close tie ensued.

Again the Kinsale players kept their composure to win 2-5 to 2-3 and seal their place in the final.

Reflecting on their campaign, in particular, the Munster final and All-Ireland semi-final, Harrington said she hopes that those games will stand to them.

“They had to fight until the very end in those games. There was no time where they could just sit back and relax,” she said.

“Their opponents were strong, they were fast and they put pressure on us for the full 60 minutes in both games. They were nail-biting games at times, but we had faith in them all the way through.

“They never gave up and got over the line, and I think those two games will stand to the girls, more than breezing through and beating other teams by so much.

“It’s good to have a test for them leading into this weekend.”

Helbrow thanked the principal, Fergal McCarthy, fellow teachers, students, and parents for all their support over the season.

She also thanked past pupil, Cork and Courcey Rovers star Saoirse McCarthy for her help after she took a training session with the squad ahead of the final.

The team comprises players from Kinsale, Courcey Rovers, Tracton, Sliabh Rua, and Ballinhassig, with several on Cork squads.

Catherine Murphy and Caoimhe O’Donnell are on the Cork camogie and football panels, at minor and U16 respectively. Hannah Deasy, Áine Ní Chearnaigh, and Anna Kelleher are on the Cork football panel.

The school is expecting supporters to travel in numbers and is organising a bus, while parents and club members are heading to Offaly for what hopefully will be a great day for all.