CAMOGIE CENTENARY
Birmingham Tournament March 2004

www.camogie.co.uk

London County Centenary Tournament - 22 May 2004

Tara Camogie Club competed in the Camogie Centenary 7-a-side Tournament, held at Tir Chonaill Park, Greenford on Saturday 22 May 2004.    Tara, who normally play in the Junior competitions were strong enough to field both a Junior and a Senior Team.  

The Junior competition consisted of 2 south London teams Croydon & Green Isles and Erin go Bragh of Birmingham.  Tara lost to Green Isles (who normally play Senior level) and also to Erin go Bragh who had a very strong and experienced goalie, but had a good win against Croydon with Kate Brennan making some vital saves.

Tara came third in this competition with Michelle Adair winning Junior Player of the tournament. Roisin Commane, Aimee Curtin & Lisa Sherry worked extremely hard throughout.  

Tara's scorers included Ger Curtin, Ciara O Shea, Coleen Ryan and Allison Whitty.

Junior squad:  Kate Brennan, Coleen Ryan, Sandy Jones, Lisa Sherry, Roisin Commane, Ciara O Shea, Allison Whitty (C), Ger Curtin, Aimee Curtin, Sinead Collins, Michelle Adair.

The Senior squad competed against Fr Murphys, Croydon and a team from Cavan, Ireland; Castletara Towers.  Castletara were the eventual competition winners and Tara held the visiting team to a tight scoreline of 1-4 to 1-5. Tara's Ann Gleeson scored a great goal from a sideline puc, with Rosie Naughton and Elaine Kelly scoring points.  Tara then played Croydon (last years senior champions) and lost 2-4 to 1-3.  Taras final game was against Fr Murphys and this highly competitive and fast game was a credit to both teams with Murphys ending eventual winners by 2 points, earning them a place in the final.  Fr Murphys Grainne Small won the Senior Player of the Tournament.

Senior Squad:  Nonie Dodwell, Sheila Fernandes, Emma Fitzgerald, Ann Gleeson, Elaine Kelly, Catherine Dwyer, Rosie Naughton, Susanne Behan.

Afterwards Presentations were made by London Camogie President Etty Kelly in the Tir Chonaill Park Clubhouse, followed by a sing-song.  Elaine Kelly (vocals) and Rosie Naughton (guitar) are now available for bookings following their debut duet.

Well done to Tara girls Aimee Curtin, Karen Curtin and Coleen Ryan played for London Under 16 squad in an exhibition game against an U-16 Birmingham side. SEE PHOTO PAGE

Birmingham Camogie Centenary Tournament 2004

Saturday 6 & Sunday 7 March

We had an absolutely fantastic time at Birmingham for the Centenary Tournament. Participating teams were Erin go Bragh (Birmingham) - Hosts; Clondalkin Round Towers (Dublin), Croydon (London), Tir Chonnail Harps (Glasgow) and ourselves.

The whole event was a success and we enjoyed every minute of it.  All the games were very competitive, played in good spirit and all the teams got on well together - now that's why we play camogie!! 

The Tournament was also the launch of The History of Camogie in Britain book and display, which was compiled by Helena Duignan of Erin go Bragh.  This book is on sale and if you would like a copy contact us or Helena on 0121 605 3465 or 0798 956 0922 or email: helena.duignan@virgin.net. Only £6.95 per book.   

The whole event was attended by Miriam Callaghan (President) and Sheila Wallis (Secretary) of CCnG, who traveled over from Dublin; Etty Kelly (London President), Roisin O Neill (London Chair & referee); who were all impressed by the standard of the whole weekend.

Tara did extremely well considering we were mainly playing against teams that consisted of a mixture of senior and junior players.  At the end of Day 1 we had knotched up 2 wins, a draw and just the 1 loss.    By Day 2 we ended up the Plate Runners Ups  I think we had too good a time at the do at the Emerald Club the previous night.

Saturday 6 March 2004

First game against Tir Chonaill Harps who are a Glasgow based shinty team made up of Scottish and Irish girls.  They participate in many Camogie tournaments, both in UK & Ireland. They are a good bunch of girls, some handy players and we hope to meet them again at the London Tournament.  Tara win. 

Tara v Croydon - Firstly lets just remind you that Croydon won the double in 2003 and Tara are in essence a Junior team. Great game. Tara WON with Ann Gleeson scoring a superb goal from a free half way through the first half and we managed to keep them scoreless for the remainder of the game. 

Tara v Clondalkin Round Towers (Dublin).  Set the scene :  Suzanne Behan joined Tara on her arrival in London and invited her home Club Clondalkin Towers to the tournament.  Susanne then had the pleasure of marking her sister Sinead for part of the first half.  Clondalkin went on to win 1-1 to 0-0 with the eventual 'Player of the Tournament'Mary notching up Towers scores.

Tara v Erin go Bragh:    Erin go Bragh took the lead with some fine points by Helen Boxwell, indeed their team had many of the infamous Boxwell sisters, all great players.  Tara kept the pressure on and it paid off with great goal from Elaine Kelly and the match ended evens 1-0 to 0-3.

At the end of Day 1 Tara were placed in third position on goal difference and would meet Erin go Bragh in the Cup Semi Final on Sunday.

A good time was had by all in the bar in the afternoon watching Ireland beat England in the Rugby. Being surrounded, poor Kate felt obliged to support Ireland but her treason was worth it by the final whistle. 

In the evening (after a curry) we attended the Emerald Club, Small Heath for food, music, dance and drinks.  A special mention for Coleens Mayo men (Toreen Hurling Club) who never left the dance floor all night. 

Sunday 7 March

Semi Final  1:    Tara 0 - 0  v  1 - 2  Erin go Bragh 

Erin go Bragh proved too strong for Tara in this semi and were awarded a place in the final.

Semi Final 2 :  Croydon  v  Clondalkin Towers

The Towers bet Croydon by something like 1-3 to 2-4.

Cup Final : Round Towers go on to beat hosts Erin go Bragh. 

Plate Competition

The losing semi finalists, Tara & Croydon were then allocated a spot in the Plate Competition.  On points difference Tara were drew against Tir Chonnail Harps and Croydon got a bye into the final.

Tara beat Tir Chonnail Harps to secure a place in the final.

Tara 0 - 0 v 2 - 2 Croydon.   We knew after Saturday that Croydon would be looking for revenge.  When we heard that they went to bed later than us Saturday night we thought that they were out partying, but they were actually working on team tactics and following a reshuffle of their squad, it all paid off for them.   It was another good game though. 

A few more factors contributed towards Croydons victory. 

Tara were missing key player Elaine Kelly who got (another) whallop in the previous game and by my reckoning Elaine is worth at least 3 goals therefore by default we actually won the Plate.

Also Croydon had the privilege of having Rita O Hanlon Wright playing corner back. Rita was a key figure in restarting Camogie in London in the 80s and her London Irish team gained many honours in the 90s.  Nice to see her out and she can still play.

Also it seems that Croydons beds were much more comfortable than Taras and it also seems that we had some of the Cruffs dogs staying at our lodgings?  Obviously the ones that were kept awake by these dogs didn't have enough drink/dance Saturday night.

Presentation

Ann Gleeson (Captain) was voted Tara's Player of the Tournament with Susanne Behan coming a close second.

Everyone that wore the blue and white of Tara this weekend played their part in our good performances in what was a real team effort all the way through.

Richard & Tommy won the Men of the Weekend Award.  

Squad

Kate Brennan, Sandy Jones, Michelle Adair, Sheila Fernandes, Nonie Dodwell, Sinead Collins, Lisa Sherry, Coleen Ryan, Ger Curtin, Elaine Kelly, Ann Gleeson, Susanne Behan, Ciara O Shea & Alison Whitty. 

Also thanks to the ex-London Irish players that lined out for us during the weekend: Julie, Ger & Ann.

Richard Barnes - hoarse Coach. The boy did well in his selections.

Tommy McConnon - general all round good bloke, driver, advisor, umpire.

Mags Heneghan  (with child) - first aid assistant.

Michelle - Michelle's friend who also stood in the cold all weekend.

The Ryan Family - they left the deck chairs behind but had lots of blankets instead.

Thanks to Alison & Nonie for making the special journey up to join in on the games on Sunday.

Many thanks to all involved in organizing the tournament (especially the tea ladies who can make HOT soup), Helena & Denis and all the participating teams for their part in the weekend.

PS - Can someone now take those 'hit me' stickers off Kelly's arms and legs?  

Photos of the weekend can be viewed and purchased at www.mattnuttallphotography.co.uk

The scores noted about are roughly about right but not 100% accurate. If you know the correct scores please let us know.  Thanks