Saturday 6th June 2009 Poulter Park, Mitcham

Croydon 2.06 V Bros Pearses 1.05

The second round of the London Camogie Championship saw Croydon overcome Bros Pearses with an outstanding comeback in the second half to secure an important victory. 

From the outset the game was tense and competitive with many hard fought battles in the centre of the pitch.  Croydon opened the scoring with a well taken point by Lizzie Jones, quickly followed up with a further point by Rita O’Mahoney.  Pearses came fighting back, securing their own puck out and passing the ball to corner forward Aoife O'Connell who rattled the Croydon net.  Some excellent play followed with many hard fought contests around the middle of the field.  Pearses continued to apply the pressure with Sue Deasy, in particular, making trouble for the Croydon backline.  Their efforts were rewarded and a further 3 points were added to their tally before the whistle blew at half time.

The second half commenced with a much changed Croydon side, tactical moves saw full back Anne Marie O’Dwyer move to full forward with Sarah Allen taking up the full back position.  These switches proved their worth for Croydon as they closed the gap on the leaders with Lizzie Jones getting her second score of the day as she put the ball past goalie, Therese Doyle.   Pearses defense battled hard to break through the Croydon midfield but the home team stood their ground with stoic performances by Maria Clarke and Aisling Touhy.  Sharon McNeela leveled the scoring with a converted free from the 40 yard line.  This lifted Croydon’s spirits and was the turning point of the game as Croydon took the lead with a point from Bridget Hehir.  The visitors continued their efforts but were unable to stop the Croydon forward line from clocking up some fine scores with 2 points from Anne Marie O’Dwyer and an excellent goal from Sharon McNeela.  Pearses’ heads didn’t drop as they made a tactical switch and brought Sue Deasy to centre forward where she fought hard and was rewarded with a converted free.  The end was drawing near and both sides showed their determination with Croydon’s Elaine Dunphy and Pearses’ Trish Nihill epitomising the character of both teams but ultimately Croydon triumphed on the day and ran out winners with a final score line of 2.06 to 1.05. 

Croydon: K Collins, J McGivney, A M O’Dwyer, B Hehir, S O’Donoghue, E Dunphy, S Allen, S McNeela, M Clarke, M Tierney, S Keatley, A Touhy, R O’Mahoney, L Jones, B McAdam Subs M Hoare