Dunloy junior camogs at the third time of asking got to grips with a determined An Riocht side to win by 5 points. Once again this was a nip and tuch affair which saw Dunloy's greater experience shine through in the end.

This has been an epic contest for both sides and in all honesty neither side deserved to lose this first round encounter.

Dunloy lost the toss and were forced to play against a very strong breeze but for much of the first half they held An Riocht in a vice like grip. By the 7th minute neither side had scored but when Chloe Drain and Melissa Smyth combined to free Ciara Cunning she gave the An Riocht keeper Joanne Sloan no chance with her well placed effort and An Riocht had to thank their netminder who would go on to pull off several fine saves over the course of the game.

Dunloy were still celebrating their goal when from a huge 65yd free Sophie Colgan landed the ball in to the Dunloy square and despite an initial save from Laura Dooey Naimh Mulheran finished the ball to the net to leave the sides all level.

Dunloy now came under pressure and when they broke away they all too often saw the ball go wide and with Coleen Fearon playing a sweeping role the ball was quickly played out of defence.
Assisted by the breeze An Riocht were not having a good day and were left to survive on frees and in the 19th mintue they stretched their lead to a single point when Sophie Clogan drilled over a 30yd free.

This was An Riocht best period of the game and when Naimh Mulheran escaped the tight marking of Dunloy she drilled over an acute angle point to leave 0-2 between the sides.

With injury time fast approaching Dunloy then came surging forward and won a 45 which was held up in the breeze. Clare Dixon saw her goal bound effort cleared off the line and turning defence into attack An Riocht worked the ball forward.

A slip by a Dunloy defender then gave An Riocht the final score of the half as Sophie Colgan passed to Naimh Mulhern who again fired over to leave the half time score An Riocht 1-3 Dunloy 1-0.
Dunloy had done their homework and in the second half they worked the space and with quick forwards they soon began to make all their experience count. Ciara McNeill and Kerri Smyth took control of midfield, Charlene O'Kane and Aiofe Martin began to dominate in defence and with 3 minutes on the clock Danielle Quinn saw a goal bound effort hit a divot and bounce wide but still Dunloy were plugging away and by the 13th niether side had scored. Dunloy then pulled Clare Dixon to centre half forward and within seconds she had sent in a high ball which was doubled on by Ciaomhe Quinn who once again saw an excellent save by Joanne Sloan deny her but from the resulting 45 the ball was whipped in and Clare Dixon made no mistake as she fired it to the net.
Dunloy were now level and Clare Dixon then caught and promptly sent over a long range point in the 16th minute to give Dunloy the lead.

By the 18th An Riocht had yet to raise a flag and when Sophie Colgan pointed a 30yd free the sides were locked for a 3rd time.

Dunloy now upped the tempo and with the breeze behind them and a hard working half forward line winning every ball that came their way Dunloy had forced their 3rd 45 of the game. Ciara McNeill made no mistake in putting the ball over the bar and within a minute Dunloy had stamped their authority onto the game when from a long range free Clare Dixon volleyed the ball to the net to give Dunloy a 4 point advantage.

Dunloy then were forced to defend but Briege Martin Ciara McGuickan and Orla Dobbin were in no mood to concede and worked the ball out to the wings where it was drilled forward.

Dunloy were now on top in virtually every position on the pitch and playing some great possession camogie then ran down the clock and a minute into injury time Danielle Quinn showed her marker a clean pair of heels of drill the ball over the bar to give Dunloy a 3-3 to 1-4 final victory.

HOW THEY PLAYED
This has been an epic contest between these sides and on Sunday Dunloy had too much up front for An Riocht. Wides from the game show Dunloy hitting 10 compared to only 4 for An Riocht and overall Dunloy won this game with plenty to spare.

An Riocht were an excellent side who tested Dunloy to their limits but on the day they opted to apply a sweeper system and it backfired as Dunloy simply held firm at midfield and the pace of their half forward line was something that An Riocht could not cope with.
Overall this standard was as good as any senior match and both sides must be congratulated for the excellent games produced in this series of matches.

For An Ricoht netminder Joanne Sloan was excellent between the posts and on many occassions she saved certain goals while in front of her Coleen Fearon came back to act as a sweeper and despite some initial sucess Dunloy had too much up front. Again Asling Clarke and Aine O'Reilly tried hard while at midfield both Ciara Cunningham and Clare Killen showed some nice touches. Up front much depended on the form of Sophie Clogan, Naimh Mulhern and Lisa Hughes but again this was an area dominated by Dunloy and in the end An Riocht were left to feed on meagre scraps.

For Dunloy this was an outstanding performance in which they had stars all over the pitch. In nets despite losing an early goal Laura Dooey gave her all while in front of her Dunloy had excellent performances from Orla Dobbin, Ciara McGuickan, Aiofe Martin and Charlene O'Kane. Midfield saw Ciara McNeill and Kerri Smyth again outstanding and both players gave their all in what was a tightly congested area. Up front however Dunloy held all the aces with a half forward line comprising Ciara Cunning, Chloe Drain and Melissa Smyth all too often they came stroming forward and their pace was a constant source of danger. Clare Dixon when switched to centre forward made her presence felt while twin danger Caiomhe and Danielle Quinn won plenty of possession.
scorers

Dunloy Clare Dixon 2-1, Ciara Cunning 1-0, Ciara McNeill 0-1, Danielle Quinn 0-1.
An Riocht Niamh Mulheran 1-2, Sophie Colgan 0-2,