On a bitter night, one of those when the sliotar stings the fingertips that little bit more, Trinity’s camógs managed to overcome St Mary’s 3-09 to 1-07, securing a deserved victory in the first round of championship. Santry Avenue was the venue, the pitch cutting a pristine stage through the floodlit fog.
The sides had met previously in the league, a game in which Trinity lost out after a first-half lead was overturned. The hosts were determined, then, that history would not repeat itself. Emerging from the warmth of the clubhouse Trinity looked like a team on a mission. Mary’s took 15 minutes more than their opponents to emerge onto the field. There was uncertainty on the sideline about whether this was tactical mind games, a ploy to leave Trinity cool off on a frigid January night.
From throw in, however, it became clear that if it was tactical it hadn’t worked. Trinity showed their intent from the start with Aoife O’Carroll wrestling hard from the throw in to drive a searching ball into her half-forward line, the subsequent shot falling narrowly wide. O’Carroll, unperturbed, fired over neatly from 35 yards out after a period of prolonged pressure from Trinity.
With the visitors’ forwards grinding into motion, Trinity’s defence was exposed to its first test. A free from the 45 was lofted into a packed full-back line. The ball and the danger was batted away by captain Eimear Dolan, setting up a quick counter attack that ended when Laura Stack – a constant danger – was hauled down. She calmly bisected the posts from an acute angle to put Trinity two points to the good after 10 minutes.
Marginal leads such as these seem to double in size on nights where the thermometer hovers just over zero. This was evident on the pitch as the half continued to Trinity’s liking.
The bedrock of all of this was the midfield axis of Juliette O’Flynn and Aoife O’Carroll. Roaming the centre of the park, the duo set up countless opportunities throughout the night for their full and half forwards.
On the cusp of half-time Trinity hammered home their dominance with a well-taken goal. O’Flynn linked up superbly with Bronagh Quinn who dashed at the Mary’s defence and thundered a shot at the keeper. Heather Doyle, loitering opportunistically, latched onto a bobbling rebound and palmed the ball into the net, leaving the scoreline reading 1-03 to 0-02 at half-time.
As you’d expect in championship encounters, Mary’s came out strongly in the second half. Looking for a repeat of their league encounter, Mary’s cut into Trinity’s four-point lead straight away as a quick ball was driven in from the throw in before being stuck over from the 21.
Stack made certain that there would be no repeats, constantly demanding the ball. Everything she touched seemed to culminate in a score.
Every point seemed to vanquish another ghost of Trinity’s past. The year so far had been packed with too many nearlys and almosts, and each point now represented something bigger than a gap on a scoreboard. Each point now marked a new beginning. This was driven home by Lizzy Murray as she rifled past an onlooking Mary’s keeper.
A new confidence rushed through Trinity for the remainder of the game. Even a sloppy Mary’s goal could do little to dampen Trinity’s newfound vigour. The passing was crisp and the runs were smart. There was even a taste of champagne camogie as O’Flynn fetched a fine ball from Veale’s puck-out before flicking an over-the-shoulder pass to an onrushing O’Carroll. She then delivered a low ball into substitute Julie Healy who turned her marker and popped the ball over with the minimum fuss.
With the game drawing to a close, Stack’s influence became more and more pronounced. Poised on the ball, she contributed 1-07 of Trinity’s 3-09 and it was only right that she’d have the last word, with a clean strike from the 21 leaving the final score reading 3-09 to 1-07.
