After a 12-month absence, the Matrix senior camogie crown returned to the St. Munna's trophy cabinet last July. Here, we review the camogie year. The Matrix senior camogie championship cup returned to familiar territory last July when mighty St. Munna's overcame reigning champions Lough Lene Gaels after a replay. The Gaels caused a major upset in 2001 when they ended St. Munna's bid for a 14th consecutive title. That defeat clearly hurt the Turin-based club who not only regained the county title last year, but also reached the final of the Leinster junior championship. St. Munna's had to dig deep into their reserves of character to wrest the title back from Lough Lene Gaels. When the sides first met at Cusack Park on July 6, St. Munna's required a late equalizer from Aileen Lawlor - who refereed the All-Ireland final between Cork and Tipperary last September - to earn a 0-7 to 0-7 draw. St. Munna's dominated the opening quarter, with points from Dinah Loughlin, Annette Heffernan (two) and Lawlor giving them a 0-4 to 0-1 lead. But the Gaels had restored parity, 0-5 each, by the interval thanks to four unanswered points from Mary Henry. Scores were much harder to come by in the second half, with points from Henry and Celeste Dermody for the Gaels being cancelled out by efforts from Loughlin and Lawlor. Six days later, the teams returned to Cusack Park for a replay which saw St. Munna's run out deserving 1-6 to 0-4 winners. St. Munna's stamped their authority on the game in the opening half when points from Heffernan, Loughlin and player of the match Catherine Glynn had them perched on a 0-5 to 0-1 lead at the break. Seven minutes after the restart, Lawlor swooped for the only goal to give St. Munna's a seven-point cushion. Henry and Sheila Carroll replied with points for Lough Lene Gaels, but the team in red and white comfortably held on for their 14th title success. The season didn't end there for St. Munna's who subsequently defeated Kilmessan (Meath) and Kiltegan (Wicklow) to qualify for the Leinster junior club final. But their hopes of lifting the provincial crown were dashed by Offaly kingpins Drumcullen on a 3-9 to 0-5 scoreline at McCabe Park, Turin. The Westmeath champions were always chasing the game, trailing by six points at the interval and by nine points early in the second half. A stronger Drumcullen copperfastened victory with their third goal in the closing stages. Despite their Leinster final heartbreak, however, 2002 will still go down as an excellent year for St. Munna's. The St. Munna's team which regained the county senior camogie crown was: Vera Heffernan; Marie Murtagh, Yvette Cully, Deirdre McInerney; Brigid Leavy, Catherine Glynn, Mary Power; Mary Glynn, Lorraine Leavy; Aileen Lawlor, Annette Heffernan, Marie Gartland; Shirley McLoughlin, Dinah Loughlin, Helena Finglas. Subs used: Michelle Scanlon and Rhona Murtagh. Cullion take senior 'B' title Cullion won their first senior camogie title since 1987 when they coasted to a 1-10 to 0-3 victory over a disappointing Lough Lene Gaels side in the senior 'B' championship final at McCabe Park, Turin last October. The winners were in superb form from the start and never allowed their Collinstown opponents to settle into the game. Despite hitting three early wides, they had opened up a 0-4 to 0-0 after 15 minutes of the first half thanks to points from Andrea Martin (three) and Roisin Brennan. Mary Henry eventually broke Lough Lene Gaels' duck, but Cullion replied with points from Martin (two) and a goal from Stephanie Kelly to take a 1-6 to 0-1 lead into the interval. On the resumption, Kelly and Henry exchanged points before Bernie Corroon extended Cullion's advantage. Henry notched the Gaels' third point, but the impressive Martin had the final say for Cullion when slotting over her sixth point of the final. The Cullion team was: Aileen Martin; Anne-Marie Newcombe, Aoife Davitt, Jessica Weldon; Emma Martin, Sinead Marshall, Carol McKinley; Niamh Kiernan, Andrea Martin; Aisling Reynolds, Bernie Corroon, Therese Allen; Stephanie Kelly, Elaine Galvin, Roisin Brennan. First junior title for Delvin Delvin put behind them the disappointment of their defeat to Cullion in the 2001 final when they won their first junior camogie championship at Drumraney's expense last August. Delvin's 4-4 to 1-3 victory capped a wonderful year for the club which also saw them annex titles at under 10, under 14, under 16 and under 18 level. Given the number of successes they've had over the past few years, they should be real contenders for a senior title in the not too distant future. Nicola Geoghegan gave Delvin a dream start when she found the net after 11 minutes. Five minutes later, the same player added a second goal, but a Fionnuala Carey goal brought Drumraney back into contention after 23 minutes. Buoyed by that score, the south county side tagged on three further points to level the game, 1-3 to 2-0, at half-time. Delvin took a firm grip on proceedings following Geoghegan's third goal in the 38th minute. A further goal from Niamh Barry, and points from Laura Carroll and substitute Patricia Smyth, sealed a comfortable victory for the maroon and whites. Afterwards, the junior cup was presented to joint Delvin captains Karen Clune and Emma Sheerin, while the player of the match award went to Drumraney's Jenny Martin. The Delvin team was: Deirdre Barry; Catriona Malone, Emma Sheerin, Linda Kenny; Eileen Smyth, Karen Clune, Linda Williams; Niamh Barry, Linda Jenkinson; Eileen O'Driscoll, Laura Carroll, Carol Sheerin; Nicola Geoghegan, Triona O'Shaughnessy, Jenna Clune. Subs used: Patricia Smyth, Shauna McMorrow, Samantha Flynn and Maria Smyth. Delvin retain under 18 title Delvin retained the under 18 camogie championship with a comfortable 4-5 to 2-1 victory over Cullion at the St. Loman's Grounds on September 7 last. Favoured by the breeze in the opening half, Cullion had the better of the exchanges with Aileen Martin's two goals giving them a 2-1 to 1-1 lead at the break. The Delvin goal was scored by Denise McGrath. But the second half was dominated by Delvin who tagged on a further 3-4 without reply. Jenna Clune bagged two goals, while the other goal was accounted for by Triona O'Shaughnessy. Linda Williams also notched 0-4 from placed balls. The Delvin team was: Louise Murtagh; Mary Clune, Linda Kenny, Rachel Renehan; Maria Smyth, Patricia Smyth, Deirdre Barry; Linda Williams, Samantha Flynn; Elaine Farrelly, Triona O'Shaughnessy, Cathy Browne; Denise McGrath, Jenna Clune, Laura Lynch. Subs used: Sinead Malone and Tracey Moran. Crookedwood take under 12 'A' crown Crookedwood's penchant for notching goals saw them power to a 5-0 to 0-0 victory over Delvin in the under 12 'A' camogie decider at Cullion last July. Goals from Orla Boyhan (two), Carol-Ann Newman (two) and Karina Murtagh helped the 'Wood to a deserved win over a Delvin team who never gave up at any stage. The Crookedwood team was: Charlene Newman; Eimer Flynn, Enya Scally, Shauna Gilhooley, Claire Flynn; Elaine Shaw, Orla Boyhan, Carol-Ann Newman; Karina Murtagh, Aine Boyhan, Muireann Scally, Sarah Greville. Subs used: Sinead McNicholas, Aisling Smith and Louise Kelly. Tweet

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