Camogie: Wexford snatch draw with late scoring spree

A powerful finish from Wexford that saw the Slaneysiders reel off the last 1-04 of the game, including 1-1 in stoppage time, was enough to secure a 3-11 to 1-17 draw with Kilkenny in the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland senior championship Group 2 clash.

Shelly Keogh’s goal, set up by a strong and brave run from Ciara O’Connor, got the underdogs off to a dream start with just three minutes on the clock.

The response from the All-Ireland champions however was exemplary, as they rattled off the next five points of the game – four from the stick of Katie Nolan – over the next eight minutes of play.

Steffi Fitzgerald and Kellyann Doyle linked up the play extremely well, enabled by some strong defensive work from the Kilkenny half-back line, and while a brace of Ciara O’Connor frees stemmed the tide somewhat, points from Denise Gaule (two), Katie Power and Nolan made it 0-10 to 1-2, and hinted at a one-sided encounter, even allowing for the breeze that favoured the Cats in the first half.

Wexford needed a moment of magic to stay in contention and they got it when O’Connor whipped a sideline over the bar for a two-point score with 24 minutes gone, though they still trailed by 0-12 to 1-5 at the interval.

With 40 seconds gone in the second half, Julianne Malone had the ball in the Wexford net following a snappy turnover and run from Jenny Clifford, and there was even less evidence of the comeback that was to come when Kilkenny continued to build on that lead.

Linda Bolger’s goal, rifled into the top corner, kept them in contention, but when Asha McHardy pointed in the 53rd minute to make it 1-17 to 2-7, there were very few supporters would have anticipated the big finale that was coming.

Three O’Connor scores, two from frees and one from