Camogie: Camross battle past Ballincollig to All-Ireland club intermediate crown

December 14, 2025

Ballincollig's Cara O'Sullivan with Leah Daly of Camross during the All-Ireland club intermediate camogie championship final at Croke Park ©INPHO/James Crombie

Camross (Laois) 1-14
Ballincollig (Cork) 1-10

Consensus will have it that it that it was Sarah Anne Fitzgerald’s 39th minute goal that turned the tide for Camross as they chiselled out a hard-fought victory over Ballincollig in a thrilling AIB All-Ireland intermediate club final at Croke Park.

It was a brilliant finish off the sod from outside the square and at an angle by the former Laois star, who finished with the player of the match award as a result of providing a goal and seven points. Six of those points were from frees including a phenomenal effort into the wind in the first half and she never looked like missing.

The goal moved Camross into the lead by a point, 1-9 to 1-8 but it felt like it was coming, after Ava Hartnett had made two stunning saves from the industrious duo, Andrea Scully and Erin Walsh.

If you were to identify a change of momentum, it felt like it arrived int the last eight to ten minutes of the first half, during which the winners outscored their opponents by five points to two, to turn a four-point deficit to the minimum, 1-7 to 0-9, and the wind at their backs in the second half.

It was a very even start with both forward lines looking dangerous. It took camogie’s premier junior player of the year, Aimee Collier 42 seconds to make her first imprint, her languid stride taking her inside the 45 before stroking over.

Ailish Scanlon levelled from a free but Walsh took a pass from Collier to restore the Camross lead from a difficult angle soon after.

The first goal opportunity came Ballincollig’s way in the fourth minute, as the retreating Leah Hannigan, part of an inside two-person full-forward line, won a dirty ball in her own half and started a move that ended with Tara Goulding gathering, waltzing around Aisling Burke but shooting straight at Niamh Dollard, who batted away well.

Scanlon equalised from a placed ball two minutes later and then came a goal from Hannigan.

This year’s Cork U16 captain has been a revelation since coming into the fray for the very first time as a half-time sub in the county final replay against Ballygarvan and coming away with the player-of-the-match award after scoring five points from play.

The gifted attacker ghosted in behind the cover when Scanlon fed a lovely low ball into Goulding, and was on hand to take the pass when the full-forward rounded her marker once more and delivered the perfect hand-pass.

Coming in from the right on the edge of the square, Hannigan drilled an unstoppable shot to the far corner of the net.

With Leah Weste dominant across the Ballincollig half-back line, Mike O’Brien’s squad certainly held the upper hand at this juncture, and though Gráinne Delaney and Fitzgerald hit points for Camross, the Cork crew had the next three via Ailish Scanlon, who provided seven points from frees, Linda Dorgan and Sorcha McCarthy.

Fitzgerald and McCarthy swapped points but almost imperceptibly, Arien Delaney’s charges changed the flow, with points from Keenan and Collier, and after Scanlon’s converted free, two drilled placed balls by Fitzgerald.

That felt like the significant period of the affair and they seemed to hold the upper hand in the second half, albeit that scores were at a premium in that latter period.

Certainly, Ballincollig were under far more pressure defensively and unable to get Hannigan and Goulding in possession in the opposition danger zone. This was due in large part to the voracious workrate around the middle third, with at least three of their second-half points coming from turnovers, while Donnagh Mortimer was magnificent in the half-back division.

In contrast, Camross started carving out major opportunities and the goal, while individually fantastic, had been on the cards.

Ballincollig kept battling but three pointed frees from Scanlon was their sole scoring return, while Fitzgerald, Collier and Scully ensured there was sufficient breathing space to see out the closing minutes and become the first Laois side to be champions since Harps completed the three-in-a-row in 2008.

SCORERS FOR CAMROSS: S-A Fitzgerald 1-7(0-6fs); A Collier 0-3; G Delaney, A Scully, E Walsh, K Keenan 0-1 each

SCORERS FOR BALLINCOLLIG: A Scanlon 0-7(fs); L Hannigan 1-0; S McCarthy 0-2; L Dorgan 0-1

CAMROSS: N Dollard, M Burke, A Burke, F Scully, Aoife Collier, D Mortimer, E Cuddy, L Delaney, Aimée Collier, L Daly, G Delaney, A Scully, E Walsh, S A Fitzgerald, K Keenan. Subs: T Lowry for Fitzgerald temp (52-55), S Burke for L Daly (57), A Guilfoyle for M Burke (60+3), T Lowry for E Walsh (60+4)

BALLINCOLLIG: A Hartnett, A Cotter, M Healy, C O’Sullivan, O Keating, L Weste, E Hickey, A Scanlon, S Healy, K Goulding, L Dorgan, O O’Leary, L Hannigan, T Goulding, S McCarthy. Subs: B Cunniffe for O’Leary (42), N O’Brien for S Healy (49), I Fleury for McCarthy (60+2)


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