Thurles Sarsfields suffer Munster heartbreak as St Finbarr’s produce stunning second-half comeback

AIB Munster Senior Club Camogie Championship Semi-Final

St Finbarr’s 1-17

Thurles Sarsfields 1-10

It was a chastening experience for Tipperary champions Thurles Sarsfields on Sunday as a second-half blitz by the Barr’s, where they outscored Sars by 13 points to 2 to overturn a half-time deficit of four points, saw them emerge seven-point victors and qualify for another Munster final.

It was a harsh lesson for the Premier County side to have to learn, but it was a game from which they will have to take many learnings, take stock over the coming months and regroup for another tilt at the Tipperary championship firstly, and, if they are victorious there, the Munster championship after. They will now know the levels required to be successful at this level.

Thurles started the better side and showed huge intensity and fight in the early running and raced into a four-point lead. Even after last year’s Munster champions had reduced the gap back to one, the two-in-a-row Tipp champions kept their composure and were four ahead again by the break.

One concern at the break for Sars would have been the over-reliance on Caoimhe Stakelum for scores, as the rest of the forward line struggled to have any impact on the game. This was proven in the second half when the Barr’s stopped the supply of ball into the young Tipperary star and the scores completely dried up for the Tipp outfit.

Thurles opened the scoring after 37 seconds through Aoife O’Dwyer, and less than a minute later Caoimhe Stakelum had the lead out to two, and the same player would add two frees to leave the Tipperary champions four ahead by the ninth minute as Thurles started the game with a fierce ferocity which the Barr’s struggled to cope with.

The Cork outfit would be right back in the game in the 11th minute when a Sorcha McCartan free was caught by Ella Wigginton Barrett, who made a beeline for the Thurles goal before finishing from close range, and the sides were level in the 15th minute through a Liz O’Donovan effort.

A Caoimhe Stakelum free had Thurles ahead, and in the 16th minute Thurles were four ahead again through a Laura Loughnane goal after Stakelum had seen her shot saved, and after a scramble Loughnane knocked in from a yard out.

Kate Wall then hit the Barr’s second point after a fine catch and finish, before Caoimhe Stakelum added another to her tally. Cork star Sorcha McCartan hit her first of the game from a free, before Stakelum added two more, both from placed balls, with the final score of the half going the Barr’s way thanks to a superb finish from Liz O’Donovan.

Thurles extended their lead five minutes into the second half through another Stakelum free, but this would be as good as it would get for them, as the Cork outfit would take complete control of the game from here on in.

Within the space of a minute, they would have the gap back to just two points thanks to scores from Kate Wall, then a Sorcha McCartan effort after they overturned Thurles from the puck-out, and then Orlaith Cahalane got in on the act with a fine score.

After she missed a close-in free, Sorcha McCartan made up for it soon after with a tidy finish to leave just a solitary point between the sides, and the same player had the scores level in the 42nd minute with a free.

The Barr’s took the lead for the first time in the game in the 45th minute when, with her first touch after coming on off the bench, Eimear Hurley pointed from close range.

A McCartan free and a Kate Wall effort had the gap out to three, and then the score of the game came via McCartan with a superb over-the-shoulder effort from out by the sideline, and it was Aisling Shannon next on the scoresheet with a fine effort from range.

Thurles finally got their second and final score of the half in the 58th minute through Laura Loughnane, who pointed well under pressure from three Barr’s players.

But the Barr’s kept going and finished the game through two McCartan frees and a brilliant score from Liz O’Donovan in the 61st minute, with the game’s final score as the St Finbarr’s machine marches on to another Munster final.

Thurles Sarsfields: Siobhan Hennessy; Leanna Coppinger, Niamh McCormack, Nicola Loughnane; Ciara Cummins, Emer Kennedy, Emma Carey; Karen Kennedy, Aoife O’Dwyer (0-1); Andrea Loughnane, Anna Derby, Marie Creedon; Laura Loughnane (1-1), Caoimhe Stakelum (0-8, 0-6f), Lucy Purcell.

Subs used: Sarah Stakelum for A Derby (HT); Robyn Fanning for N Loughnane (53).

St Finbarr’s: Ciara Hurley; Stephanie Punch, Aisling Egan, Kate Cahalane; Meabh Cahalane, Gemma O’Connor, Aoife O’Neill; Liz O’Donovan (0-3), Aisling Shannon (0-1); Nicole Olden, Ella Wigginton Barrett (1-0), Ciara Golden; Kate Wall (0-3), Orlaith Cahalane (0-1), Sorcha McCartan (0-8, 0-5f).

Subs used: Eimear Hurley (0-1) for N Olden.

Referee: Daniel O’Donnell (Limerick)