Claremorris end year on a high

Claremorris end year on a high


Michael Commins

IT was a classic showdown and it went all the way down to the wire. At the end of an enthralling encounter, Mount St Michael, Claremorris took the fifth set by three points to edge home against St Mary’s of Naas in one of the closest All-Ireland Senior A Volleyball final in recent years.
This was a gripping encounter that had the large attendance at UCD cheering wildly in throughout the game. In the end, the Claremorris girls shaded it by a whisker.
Mount St Michael got off to a shaky start, losing the first set. But the girls quickly settled and were in sparkling form when taking the next two sets to move ahead. In a very keenly contested fourth set, the Kildare girls eventually managed to shade the issue and this left the teams tied at 2-2 entering the final set.
Both teams produced some excellent fare in the fifth set before Mount St Michael eventually got the decisive breaks and, in a tense and dramatic finish, got the winning three point margin that landed them the All Ireland honours.
Team captain Caileen Meehan said they were overjoyed when they eventually came through the showdown. “This was a game that could have gone either way. It was pretty tense, especially in the fifth and final set. There was very little room for slip-ups at that stage.
“All the Claremorris girls performed well on the day. There was a very exciting finish to the final. It was close and exciting. The Naas girls were very good and we knew we were in a real contest. Luckily for us, we got a few crucial breaks when we needed them most.”
The team was captained by Caileen and the other members of the panel were Aisling Bell, Rebecca Kearns, Grainne McNeive, Stephanie Mellett, Edel Nolan, Jacqueline Prendergast, Sinead Croghan, Ashling Croghan, April Higgins, Marina Cawley and Katie McCormack.
Team coach and school principal, Fionnghula King, was especially delighted to see the girls regain the national title. Mount St Michael had finished runners-up in 2006 and 2007, after winning three in a row in 2003, ’04 and ’05. It was great to see the girls back on the winning track again.
The medals and cup were presented to Mount St Michael in UCD amid scenes of wild jubilation from the large contingent of supporters that travelled from Claremorris to cheer on the girls. Bodrans and chanting added enormously to the overall atmosphere of the big occasion in UCD.
On arrival back in Claremorris, the girls were given a garda escort through to the town and back to Mount St Michael. Later, all the panel retired to the home of Edel Nolan in Claremorris town where her parents Con and Carmel had a special welcome laid on for all of them.
The winning panel were given a tremendous welcome when they arrived in Mount St Michael on Thursday morning at 10.30am and a special presentation was made to them in the school gym. It was the perfect end to a brilliant campaign and one which saw Mount St Michael back at the top of the volleyball ladder in Ireland. Well done, girls!