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1995 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship

All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship 1995
Championship details
Dates3 June – 24 September 1995
Teams6
All-Ireland champions
WinnersCork (17th win)
CaptainDenise Cronin
ManagerTom Nott
All-Ireland runners-up
Runners-upKilkenny
CaptainAngela Downey
Championship statistics
Matches played7
1994
1996

The 1995 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship—known as the Bórd na Gaeilge All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship for sponsorship reasons—was the high point of the 1995 season. The championship was won by Cork who defeated Killkenny by a four-point margin in the final, taking the lead for only the first time in the match with a goal by Linda Mellerick that dropped into the net from a long shot with just 30 seconds of normal time left.[1] The match drew an attendance of 9,874, then the highest for a camogie-only final (one which was not on a jint hurling programme), beating the 52-year-old attendance record set for Dublin v Cork in 1943.[2][3][4][5] Lynn Dunlea scored 4–20 in the championship.

Sponsors

Bord na Gaeilge became the first sponsor of an All-Ireland camogie championship. At the launch Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh, Cathaoirleach of Bord na Gaeilge, said that “in sponsoring the camogie championship, Bord na Gaeilge is underlining the importance of promoting Irish at community level.”

Semi-finals

A powerful finishing 15 minutes saw Cork beat Wexford in the All-Ireland semi-final at Páirc Uí Rinn in a match in which a match in which Lyn Dunlea scored 3–9.while Kilkenny trailed Galway by 1–6 to 0–6 at half-time in the semi-final at Nowlan Park before Sinéad Millea’s free-taking yielded eleven points and Sinéad ran through the Galway defence to place Jillian Dillon for the all-important goal to give Kilkenny a 1-14 to 1-9 victory.

Final

Angela Downey brought her three-year-old daughter Katie in the pre-match parade for the final, a free ridden stop-start affair. She was marked by Paula Goggins in the final. Lynn Dunlea palmed a Cork goal, Angela Downey’s shot from a free cancelled it out. Cork sent on 17-year-old Vivienne Harris (a niece of international soccer player Miah Dennehy) as a sub and she made an immediate impact. Angela Downey scored another goal from another 15-metre free. Cork captain, Denise Cronin, finished a spectacular solo run through the Kilkenny defence with a goal. Kilkenny were leading by a point when Linda Mellerick gathered a short clearance and landed a speculative ball in the goal giving Cork the lead for the first time. A third close-in free by Angela Downey was defended and Cork won by four points. Kathryn Davis wrote in the Irish Times:

Putting ghosts to rest is a regular pastime at Corke Park and another was laid to rest yesterday when Cork defeated Killkenny for the first time in six final meetings over the past 20 years. A goal by Linda Mellerick with only 30 seconds of normal time remaining saw Cork take the trophy for the 17th time.[6]

Linda Mellerick said:

I knew we were a point down so when I caught the ball I kept going and just hit it. I was not certain whether I had scored as they were a bit slow in putting up the flag, but the crowd was cheering and then I realised that it was a goal. Words cannot describe what it is like beating Kilkenny in a final. With ten minutes to go we were dead and buried and God must have had a hand in it.[7]

Dunleas

Sisters Lynn and Stephanie Dunlea were grandnieces of Kate Dunlea who captained Cork to their first All-Ireland success in 1934.[8]

Final stages

Cork5-13 – 1-6Wexford

Kilkenny1-14 – 1-9Galway

Cork4-8 – 2-10Kilkenny
Cork
Kilkenny
CORK:
GK 1 Kathleen Costine (Killeagh)
FB 2 Eithne Duggan (Bishopstown)
RWB 3 Paula Goggins (Inniscarra)
CB 4 Sandie Fitzgibbon (Glen Rovers)
LWB 5 Mags Finn (Fr O'Neill's)
MF 6 Linda Mellerick (Glen Rovers) (1–0)
MF 7 Denise Cronin (Glen Rovers) (1–0) (Capt)
MF 8 Stephanie Dunlea (Glen Rovers)
RWF 9 Fiona O'Driscoll (Fr O'Neill's) (1-1)
CF 10 Therése O'Callaghan (Glen Rovers)
LWF 11 Irene O'Keeffe (Inniscarra) (2–0)
FF 12 Lynn Dunlea (Glen Rovers) (1–7).
Substitutes:
RWF Vivienne Harris (Bishopstown) upward-facing green arrow 45)'
KILKENNY:
GK 1 Michelle Fennelly (Ballyhale Shamrocks)
FB 2 Deirdre Malone (St Brigid's Ballycallan)
RWB 3 Margaret Hickey (St Lachtain's)
CB 4 Sinéad Costello (St Lachtain's)
LWB 5 Bridget Barnaville (Lisdowney)
MF 6 Marina Downey (Lisdowney)
MF 7 Ann Downey (Lisdowney)
MF 8 Marie Maher (St Martin’s)
RWF 9 Sinéad Millea (St Brigid's Ballycallan) (0–5)
CF 10 Breda Holmes (Lisdowney)
LWF 11 Angela Downey (Lisdowney) (Capt) (2–5)
FF 12 Jillian Dillon (St Lachtain's)
Substitutes:
RWF Tracey Millea (St Brigid's Ballycallan) upward-facing green arrow 45)'

References

  1. ^ Moran, Mary (2011). A Game of Our Own: The History of Camogie. Dublin, Ireland: Cumann Camógaíochta. p. 460. 978-1-908591-00-5
  2. ^ Report of final in Irish Independent, September 25, 1995
  3. ^ Report of final in Irish Times, September 25, 1995
  4. ^ Report of final in Irish Examiner, September 25, 1995
  5. ^ Report of final in Irish News, September 25, 1995
  6. ^ Report of final in Irish Times, September 25, 1995
  7. ^ Report of final in Irish Independent, September 25, 1995
  8. ^ Report of final in Irish Examiner, September 25, 1995
Preceded by All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship
1932 – present
Succeeded by