Holders Oulart-The Ballagh reach ninth final on trot
The successful Oulart-The Ballagh squad.
IT TOOK Oulart-The Ballagh over 20 minutes to show their true capabilities against St. Martin's in St. Patrick's Park, Enniscorthy, on Tuesday of last week, but once they got going they were easy winners as expected of this WFC Senior camogie championship semi-final, qualifying for a ninth successive decider.
While the holders moved into a 0-3 to 0-1 lead after eleven minutes with scores from Emma Moran, Ursula Jacob (free) and Stacey Redmond, the underdogs hung in there with their backs doing well and their sole threatening forward, Linda Bolger, leading the fight at the other end.
It was 0-5 to 0-3 in the 22nd minute and it was only in the closing stages of the half that some daylight started to appear, with the key score arriving on the stroke of half-time when Ursula Jacob's cross from the right corner found Una Leacy who dispatched a high shot to the net for a 1-8 to 0-4 interval lead.
When Jacob goaled just over five minutes into the new half, the contest was well and truly over, and it was only a matter of what Oulart-The Ballagh would win by.
Jacob, Stacey Kehoe and Una Leacy all added further to the lead before the finish, with the latter rounding off a comprehensive win with their third goal midway through the last quarter to ensure a repeat of the 2002 final.
