Camogie: All Ireland 7-a-side 'A' final. Sat. 8th Oct. 2011

On Saturday the 8th October Presentation Secondary School represented Leinster in the All Ireland A seven aside series where the Kilkenny girls had to compete with the winners of Munster, Connaught and Ulster. The competition took place in Blanchardstown Dublin.

The first game of the day saw Presentation take on Portumna Co. Galway. The Kilkenny girls got off to the perfect start with Michaela Keneally scoring two spectacular goals within the first five minutes. Ciara Farrell and Mary O’Connell added further points to leave the score 2-3 to 0-1 at half time. The roles of the teams reversed in the second half with Portumna scoring three unanswered goals in the first few minutes but Presentation with their never say die attitude kept fighting and added a further two points to their tally through cousins Aishling and Claire Nolan to secure victory.

The next game of the day saw Presentation take on Ulster champions – Maghera Co. Antrim. Here the girls proved much too strong for their opponents finishing with a comprehensive win of 4-6 for Presentation to 0-2 for Maghera. In this game the goals came from Mary O’Connell (2), Micahela Keneally and Ciara Farrell.

Two wins out of two meant Presentation were straight through to the final without playing the third round. Their opponents were St. Flannens from Ennis Co. Clare who had also recorded two wins out of two. This was expected to be a very close encounter as both teams were full of determination and had skill in abundance.

The game certainly lived up to all expectations. As in previous games the Kilkenny girls were in razor sharp mode from the very outset. Mary O’Connell opened the scoring with a pointed free from close range. Immediately after, Mary added a goal to her scoring tally when she raced through the Ennis defence and sent an unstoppable shot to the back of the net. Further goals were added in quick succession by the hard working midfield duo of Claire Nolan and Ciara Farrell. At the interval Presentation had a respectable lead of 3-4 to 1-1 thanks to the exceptional defensive unit of Rachel Phelan and Ailish Butler who let very little pass. St.Flannens came out all guns blazing in the second half scoring 1-1 unaswered. However the Presentation girls were never going to give in and in the final eight minutes they showed their real class with Mary O’Connell scoring three points and Claire and Aishling Nolan adding one apiece. A further two goals added by St. Flannens kept the Kilkenny supporters on edge right until the last minute when Aishling Nolan finished a well worked move to the back of the net to secure victory for her team. The final score Presentation 4-9 St Flannens 4-3.

Captain Ciara Farrell lifted the Cup on behalf of the Presentation girls who truly deserved this victory and are very worthy All Ireland champions.

Presentation A: Roisin Walsh, Rachel Phelan, Ailish Butler, Ciara Farrell, Claire Nolan, Aishling Nolan, Michaela Keneally, Mary O’Connell, Alice Talbot, Maeve O’Connor, Tamsin English, Orlaith Conlon.

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All Ireland A Senior Quarter Final 4th Feb 2012

Presentation Kilkenny 2-5 ; Maghera Derry 1-6 AET

On Saturday last Presentation Kilkenny travelled to Ballymena Co. Antrim to take on Ulster champions Maghera in the All Ireland Senior Colleges A quarter final. The game was played in appalling weather conditions. The Kilkenny side faced a huge challenge going into the game, as Maghera Co. Derry had contested the All- Ireland final for the past two consecutive years.

Presentation started the game at a very high intensity and were dominant in almost all areas of the field for the first 20 minutes. However they were finding it difficult to convert their scores due to the harsh weather conditions. Aishling Nolan scored a well taken point from play before Mary O’Connell added a point from a placed ball leaving the score 0-2 to 0-2 after 20 minutes of play. In the final 10 minutes of the first half Maghera upped the tempo and scored 1-3 unanswered leaving the Presentation girls trailing by 6 points going in at the break.

The Pres girls came out in the second half full of determination and confidence and knew they had unfinished business. Straight from the restart Mary O’Connell dropped a dangerous ball into the square where Evelyn Fogarty got the final touch to send the ball past the Maghera keeper. Goal number two soon followed. This time a long clearance from Ciara Farrell ended up in the path of Aishling Nolan who let fly with a powerful shot straight to the back of the net. With five minutes of normal time remaining Evelyn Fogarty put the Kilkenny side one point up with an excellent strike from a very acute angle. However Maghera kept fighting and with only one minute remaining were awarded a free from 45 yards out. The Maghera free taker stepped up and coolly slotted the ball over the bar to force the game into extra time.

With the weather continuing to deteriorate scores were even harder to come by in extra time. However trojan work from the Pres girls saw them take control of the game. They were soon rewarded for their effort in the 73rd minute when Mary O’Connell scored from a placed ball to put the Kilkenny girls one point up. With one minute remaining Aishling Nolan got the ball on the 45 yard line, outpaced her player and confidently slotted the ball over the bar to put the Kilkenny outfit two point clear. When the final whistle blew the Pres girls were ecstatic and deservedly so after giving a superb display of camogie over 80 minutes in the most difficult weather conditions. The final score read 2-5 to 1-6 after extra time.

Roisin Walsh, Rachel Phelan, Caroline Booth, Maeve O’Connor, Ciara Ryan, Ailish Butler, Deidre Phelan, Ciara Farrell, Alice Talbot, Michaela Kenneally, Mary O’Connell (0-2), Claire Nolan, Eimear Brennan, Eibhlin Fogarty(1-1), Aishling Nolan (1-2), Orlaith Conlon, Sarah Walsh, Tamsin English, Ronelle Henderson, Dianaimh Phelan, Aoife Brennan, Catherine Murphy