Tenacious Newcastle West power past Inagh-Kilnamona in Munster senior club camogie championship

“THE GOAL settled us, gave us a foothold to strike back and we used our experience to move on from there after the break,” was how manager Mike Quaid summed up Limerick kingpins Newcastle West opening their Muster club senior camogie championship campaign with a 1-10 to 0-9 preliminary round vicory over Clare representatives Inagh-Kilnamona in the miserable conditions in Inagh on Sunday.

Returning to provincial competition for the first time since their loss in the final to Tipperary's Drom-Inch in 2020, Inagh-Kilnamona looked to have stolen a march on their opponents when they moved into a lead of substance coming up to the break.

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However, when they conceded the game's only goal just before the change of ends, the Clare champions gave Newcastle West the chance to draw on the inter-county experience in their lineup and use the elements to steadily move on towards victory.

The winners' reward is a date with the Cork champions St Finbarr's in the provincial semi-final and they'll be hoping to have the kinks out of the system after a performance that started nervously and needed a goal against the run of play to revive them but then moved on with increasing autority to run out convincing winners.

Not only was the Limerick champions' success down to a calmness at the back that soaked up Inagh's late attempts to save the day, but it was also helped by the mixture of youth and experience from midfield up that launched them on the road to victory.

Despite facing into the wind and rain, Newcastle West ran at the opposing defence straight from the throw-in only to concede a foul for Aoibhín Ryan to open the scoring for Inagh.

Despite failing to convert their frees and racking up a pair of wides, their persistence paid off when Hazel Hogan sent a clearance back over the crossbar and Mia Smith came out to collect and turn her marker put the Limerick side in front.

However, falling behind concentrated Inagh-Kilnamona minds and, using the breeze to get length in their deliveries, they drew another free for Ryan to equalise. Aafter she was denied a goal after pouncing on a stumble in the Magpies defence by Aoife Corbett's block on the line, All-Star nominee Clare Hehir sent over the resulting '45.

Back again in the lead, the Banner champions drove on past Sinéad Power's point on the quarter mark and extended their advantage when Danielle Griffen and Andrea O'Keeffe sent over points from distance and looked to be on the way of exerting match-winning control when Power again split the posts for a lead of five points.

But with just minutes to go before the break, the Treaty representatives halted them in mid-stride when Hogan lost her marker to collect a delivery inside the defensive screen and struck on the run to bury the sliotar in the net for a tonic goal.

And just to announce they were back in contact, Newcastle West then drew a free for Kate Ambrose to reduce the deficit to a single point, 0-7 to 1-3, before the teams departed to the dressing-rooms.

The spirit of recovery continued past the interval as Newcastle West grabbed control of the middle third to steadily squeeze Inagh back into their own half and, despite the steadily worsening conditions making it next to impossible to create the open spaces, they were level with Geri Mai O'Kelly's point.

The Limerick side was then back in front for the first time since the opening minutes when Hogan pounced on a scramble to score.

Ambrose's pointed free and Rebecca Delee's score extended the gap going into the final quarter. When they lost Jane Fitzgerald to a second yellow card, Inagh minds concentrated on a show of resistance for Power to point from an almost-impossible angle and Hehir to send over a free over into the teeth of the gale from almost halfway to reduce the margin to the minimum.

But that was where the Clare side's recovery faltered. Short a player to share the load, the effort lost the gas to stretch the Newcastle West defence, the target edged further away when a clearance from the back led to Ambrose converting her third free of the game. With the pep back in their step, Delee's point and Karen O'Leary's score on the run eased the Limerick champions to victory.

SCORERS: NEWCASTLE WEST: Hazel Hogan 1-2, Kate Ambrose 0-3 (3 frees), Rebecca Delee 0-2, Mia Smith, Geri Mae O'Kelly, Karen O'Leary 0-1 each; INAGH-KILNAMONA: Sinéad Power 0-3, Aoibhín Ryan (2 frees), Clare Hehir (1 free) 0-2 each, Danielle Griffen, Andrea O'Keeffe 0-1 each.

NEWCASTLE WEST: Aoife Corbett; Grace Lee, Róisín Mann, Yvonne Lee; Róisín Ambrose, Lucy O'Brien, Ellie Woulfe; Karen O'Leary, Deborah Murphy; Kate Ambrose, Rebecca Delee, Ella Whelan; Hazel Hogan, Geri Mae O'Kelly, Mia Smith. SUB: Éabha Collins for Ella Whelan (56 minutes).

INAGH-KILNAMONA: Cara McInerney; Teresa Hegarty, Shauna Queally, Cathy Cullinan; Jane Fitzgerald, Laoise Ryan, Teresa O'Keeffe; Danielle Griffen, Andrea O'Keeffe; Aoife Keane, Sinéad Power, Laura Rynne; Aoibhín Ryan, Clare Hehir, Elisha Rynne. SUBS: Fiona Lafferty for Aoibhín Ryan (injured, 19 minutes), Hannah Shannon for Jane Fitzgerald (41 minutes), Kate Dowling for Elish Rynne (41 minutes), Mary McInerney for Sinéad Power (52 minutes), Aoibhín Ryan for Laura Ryan (54 minutes).

REFEREE: Mike Ryan (Tipperary).