Trinity GAA’s camogie team romped to a remarkable away victory last night over a wretched St Patrick’s Campus, Thurles team. Played in icy conditions in Thurles, the final scoreline would have left many rubbing their eyes in disbelief as Trinity returned to the capital with a 21-26 to 2-2 victory.
The tone for the game was set when Trinity scored inside the first minute. Fresh from a nomination for the camogie All-Stars, Aisling Maher found the net with ease after a clever hand pass from Lizzy Murray. She quickly added to her tally, scoring a further 2-2 off the back of excellent build-up play featuring Murray, Laura Stack and Bronagh Quinn.
It became apparent quite early on that the hosts were going to offer little by way of resistance, and Trinity showed no sign of letting up. A long puck out found its way to Stack after a goalmouth scramble, and she made no mistake in firing the ball home.
Pat’s did get one back after some unusually lacklustre defending from Trinity, but it was a fleeting relief from the onslaught they were being forced to endure. Quinn got among the goals after a deflected effort from Murray fell into her path. The visitors were rampant, with Quinn, Maher, Murray and Eimear Dolan getting on the scoresheet again before the break to leave Trinity leading by 16-7 to 2-2. Aoife O’Carroll was also looking menacing as Trinity took full advantage of what was in truth a paper-thin defence.
There was no let-up for Pat’s in the second half, with Trinity displaying a steely ruthlessness in putting them to the sword over and over again. They were scoring for fun by this point, Rosanna McAleese and Heather Doyle only too happy to add their names to an ever-increasing list of scorers.
Unsurprisingly, the hosts’ heads were well and truly down by the midway point of the second half. Trinity began to play with more and more fluency, with slick passing and clever movement leaving a now-destitute Pat’s side chasing shadows at best. The clearest demonstration of the chasm which now separated the sides was Murray’s incredible strike from the 45. Even Murray looked surprised when her long-range effort dropped under the bar and into the top left-hand corner of the net.
Hazel Mullen handpassed the ball home for another Trinity goal, before Maher slammed home yet again. She finished the game with a personal tally of 6-12.
Pat’s were only too happy to escape to the changing rooms with the referee’s whistle. For them, it had been a tortuous experience. Though they will be well aware that tougher challenges await, Trinity can take immense confidence from their performance. They were merciless, running riot with fluidity and clever movement throughout the game. They face Insitute of Technology, Carlow (ITC) in their opening Championship fixture on November 20th, and will hope to bring with them even a portion of the success from last night’s game.
