U8 Camogs Win Swatragh Tournament

Congratulations to our U8 Camogie team who won the first camogie tournament of the summer, defeating Ballinascreen in the final of the Swatragh Tournament.

Drawn out in section 4, the first side the young girls faced was Eoghan Rua. With fierce tackling from Carla Collins and Ellie Hendry in midfield, the Lavey defense barely seen the ball. Great team play from the forwards meant that it wasn’t long until Kate Marin, Louise Hasson and Ellen McCormick were scoring goals, leading to a comfortable Lavey victory.

Some action shots from the final

The next game was against a strong Ballinderry side. Again, Lavey ran out victorious with goalie Lucy Harris keeping a clean sheet. Slaughtneil and Kilrea B teams followed, however this young Lavey side were on a roll and defeated both teams to top their group and qualify for a semi final spot against Bellaghy.

Despite having the majority of possession, Lavey found it difficult to hit the target in the semi final. In the final few minutes, Ellie Hendry found her range and scored the winning goal with an excellent ground strike.

Ballinascreen provided the opponents in the Final. Having already played five games in blistering heat, there were fears that the girls would be tired and that they could fall short at the final hurdle. The bribe of ice-lollys on the journey home, however, seemed to work as the girls played their best camogie of the day! With scores from Orla Birt, Kate Marin and Carla Collins, Lavey lead by 3.1 at half time. Ballinascreen battled hard in the second half, however Lavey finished strong and ran out clear winners.

Congratulations to these young players and their coach, Geraldine Hughes.

Aideen Mullan presents the U8 Shield to Lavey captain, Carla Collins

Geraldine Hughes offers some words of advice for the final

Despite the young age, these girls know how to celebrate!

The U10s were also in action at the same tournament. Despite missing several players, these young girls also played some excellent camogie. In their group games, the girls drew with Eoghan Rua and defeated both Banagher and Castledawson. Emma Collins and Ciara Kelly were tremendous in midfield, working tirelessly all day, while Claire McMullan and Ellie McGuickin were solid in defense. Up front, Orla Hughes, Annie Madden, Anna Mulholland and Kirsty O’Kane all got on the score sheet and demonstrated great skill levels. Despite a superb team performance in their final group game, the girls were devastated to loose out to Ballinascreen in what was a fantastic game of camogie. Lavey had plenty of possession, however Ballinascreen managed to hold out to win the match by a single point which curbed Lavey’s aspirations to progress any further in the competition.

Lavey U10 camogs ‘just chillin’ between games