DCU Dóchas Éireann’s senior camogie team got their Division 1 league campaign off to a great start on Wednesday night, October 10, in St Clare’s, beating UCD 3-13 to 1-14.
It was a perfect night for a match and right from throw in, DCU were in the game and dominated possession in the early stages.
A free and a goal for Ciara Egan, who had a stellar performance, put DCU in the lead in the first 10 minutes.
UCD had a slow start but managed to get a couple of points, yet half forward Rachel Harty’s goal solidified DCU’s lead.
A point and a free for Egan meant DCU were leading by 2-4 to 0-3 in the first quarter.
UCD struggled to keep pace and were forced into errors by the DCU back line, with Eimear Corr, Issy Carroll and especially Ciara O’Shea pressurising the UCD forwards.
Top performances in midfield from Claire Phelan and Orla Gorman made it very difficult for UCD to win puckouts and the sliotar was fed through to DCU’s forwards very quickly.
DCU showed no signs of tiredness and still created chances with Claire Sexton’s attempt at goal in the 35th minute going just wide.
Despite their slow start, in the second quarter UCD woke up and defended and scored another 8 points, closing the gap between the two sides.
They looked a different side than the one that started the match, but still DCU never looked like a team that would concede their lead.
At half time, DCU were winning by 2-8 to 0-11. As the cliché goes, it was all to play for in the second half with only three points between the sides.
DCU had the breeze as Egan opened the second half with another free, followed by a point from Harty.
Both teams got a couple more scores and with 10 minutes to go it was 2-11 to 0-14, with DCU leading by 3 points.
DCU’s third goal came from Harty again in the 26th minute, but seconds later UCD responded finally with their only goal of the match.
However, at this stage time had ran out for UCD and DCU were the deserved winners by 3-11 to 1-14.
DCU face Maynooth away in the next round of the league and they will be happy to have gotten off to a winning start.
A successful league campaign may lay the foundations for the Ashbourne Cup.
For the last two years, DCU haven’t been able to get further than the Ashbourne Cup Quarter Final, losing out to UCD and Wicklow IT respectively.
Courtney Fitzmaurice
Image Credit: DCUGAAAcademy/Twitter