Castleknock 1-10     Ballyboden St Endas 1-9

A scorching morning greeted us to begin Senior championship on Sunday morning at the fine Castleknock grounds in Somerton.  Boden players and supporters arrived in anticipation of a tough test against a youthful home side.

Castleknock had a quick start with a couple of points before a fine point in reply from Julie Vaughan. Much of the play was condensed in the middle third, with neither team establishing any superiority. The home side pinched a sloppy goal from a Boden perspective, but Eimear O’Leary responded nearly immediately with a fine solo effort to rattle the net. Both sides traded points with Boden’s scores coming from Áine Rafter, Doireann Mullany and a brace a placed balls from Sarah Nagle – the second a fine free from the 50m side-line. Half time Castleknock lead by 1-6 to 1-5.

The 3rd quarter was a sloppy period from both sides. There were a couple of stoppages for minor injuries and both sides only added a point apiece, the Boden score coming from Eimear.

It remained a tense contest with both sides struggling for any fluency in attack. Sadie Codd in defence put in a fine performance throughout on Castleknock’s Aisling O’Neill, a fine player. Laura Nagle, Sarah Nagle & Doireann Mullany notched points for Boden to leave the scores level approaching full time. The referee gave the home side a disputed 45 which they pointed to put them ahead. While Boden had plenty of possession in the final few minutes they couldn’t get the equaliser, which would probably have been a fair result.

The full-time whistle brought home cheers for their victory. Boden will have to regroup for a must win game in a fortnight at home to Na Fianna. It’s a similar situation to last year when an underwhelming performance put us up against it before the team produced their finest performance of the year when we beat St Judes –  a performance of that quality and intensity will be required again the next day.

Team: Síle Nic Coitir, Mairead Luttrell, Hannah Hyland, Sadie Codd, Danielle White, Martha O’Donoghue, Hannah Byrne, Katie McDonald, Jodie White, Eimear O’Leary, Julie Vaughan, Laura Nagle, Doireann Mullany, Sarah Nagle, Áine Rafter, Olivia Meagher, Ella McNair, Leonie Power, Grace Walsh, Enya Kennedy, Laura Burns, Abbie Fitzgerald, Claire Kirwan, Emma Comerford

Many thanks to John Kirwan for the photographs.

Match report: Gerry White