Heartbreak as Emeralds suffer last gasp defeat to Clonkill in camogie clash

A stoppage time goal from sub Chloe Galligan broke Emeralds hearts as Westmeath club Clonkill struck late on to win out in the Leinster Intermediate Camogie Championship Semi-Final at Urlingford on Saturday afternoon.

Galligan’s late effort assured the Westmeath side of a place in the provincial decider and aside from Evie Kilmurray also finding the net for the winners, it was an afternoon where Megan Dowdall was in inspirational form as she scored 11 points over the course of the afternoon.

Emeralds themselves had their own star in attack with former Kilkenny player Anne Dalton scoring 1-10 for her side and it was only Clonkill’s late late show that denied the home team of a narrow success as Dalton rolled back the years with a superb individual display.

Dalton was all over the forward line at different stages while her free-taking proved crucial as the Kilkenny intermediate champions put the winners to the pin of their collar.

A tightly fought contest started off with Clonkill doing the damage on the scoreboard with Megan Dowdall and Lucy Power pointing from play.

Emeralds hit back in style with 1-2 on the trot as Dalton forced in the opening goal of the game on the back of a dropping Ruth Ryan free.

Dalton and Katie McDonnell then knocked over two further points for the Urlingford based outfit even if the advantage could have been even greater after Dalton and Lucy Kavanagh both had close in attempts saved by Clonkill stopper Ella Murtagh.

The Westmeath side who accounted for Na Fianna of Dublin in the Quarter-Finals then got a second wind as they scored 1-4 without reply to take control of the contest.

Megan Dowdall contributed all four points with three arriving from frees while the goal came courtesy of a mix up in the Emeralds defence as a combination of Siobhan O’Hara and Niamh Leahy knocked the ball into the path of Evie Kilmurray who finished to the net.

The changing nature of the contest continued when Dalton scored four points in succession to level up the game just before the break.

Clonkill were still the happier going into half-time though as Dowdall knocked over her sixth point of the opening period to leave her side leading on a 1-7 to 1-6 scoreline.

Dowdall continued her dominance on the scoreboard with a free within three minutes of the resumption before herself and Dalton swapped a pair of efforts as the Westmeath team maintained a two point advantage going into the final 10 minutes of the last four tie.

Buoyed by the home crowd, Emeralds kicked into another gear with successive Dalton efforts deadlocking the sides before a 53rd minute point from play by Louise Hickey made it 1-11 to 1-10 in favour of the Kilkenny team.

Dowdall levelled it up for a third time in the game when converting a long distance free but Clonkill looked like they were going to fall up short when Dalton used her magic down the other end to nail a long distance placed ball as the clock entered into stoppage time.

There was still to be further drama and after Dowdall released sub Chloe Galligan and the tidy attacker won the game for Clonkill when she cooly shot past Siobhan O’Hara in the Emeralds goal.

There was still time for Dowdall to score her eight free of the day as Clonkill won out to set up a Leinster Final date with Naas in two weeks time while for Emeralds it’s a missed opportunity after they done so well to hit the front in the final few minutes.

A disappointing end to the year for the Urlingford club and especially when a provincial final place looked within reach but all in all it’s still been a superb season and they can look back on the county final success as well as an opening round win over Mount Leinster Rangers as they tackle the senior grade for the 2027 season.

Teams and Scorers

Clonkill: Megan Dowdall (0-11, 8fs and 1 '45); Chloe Galligan, Evie Kilmurray (1-0 each); Lucy Power (0-1)

Emeralds: Ann Dalton (1-10, 5fs and 2 '45's); Katie McDonnell (0-2)

Clonkill: Ella Murtagh; Aisling Egerton, Ellen Flanagan, Ann Marie O'Reilly; Rosaleen Daly, Claire Gaffney, Alanna Coogan; Megan Dowdall, Caoimhe Coogan; Kristabella Tamoslunaite, Lucy Power, Ciara Dolan; Katie McDonnell, Holly Dowdall, Evie Kilmurray.

Subs: Chloe Galligan for Dolan, 45 mins; Niamh Keogh for McDonnell, 55 mins.

Emeralds: Siobhan O'Hara; Alanna Russell, Niamh Leahy, Saoirse Bourke; Eimear Leahy, Davina Tobin, Ruth Ryan; Emily Kavanagh, Emma Dunphy; Aoibhe Bourke, Anne Dalton, Roisin Ahern; Louise Hickey, Lucy Kavanagh, Roisin Gibbons.

Subs: Leyla Ahern for R.Ahern, 48 mins.

Referee: Jason Buckley (Dublin)