Joint junior captains’ l/r: Noel Kiernan, Alan O'Mara, Tommy Casserly raise the cup. Mascot is Lorcan O'Mara
Kathleen Boyhan lifting junior camogie cup
‘Well done Daddy’. Darragh Orme, John Orme, Lucy Orme
that stage, we knew we had to win our remaining games or we’d be out of the championship. It was do-or-die and in fairness to the lads, they came out in their fourth game and scored 327 against Turin which was a great score to put up. “We beat Cullion, Raharney and Ringtown after that to get through to the semi-finals. It was some turnaround to go from bottom of the group to second in the space of four games. People were saying that Ringtown weren’t up for it when we played them in the last group match because they were already through, but that wasn’t the case at all. They wanted to put us out because they knew we’d be a threat to them later in the championship.” As it turned out, the north Westmeath neighbours met again in the semi-final on the first day of September. The ‘Wood were trailing by two points when two goals in the space of a minute from Barry O’Mara at the end of the third quarter turned the game on its head. A goal from a free by Ringtown goalkeeper Pat Burke set up a grandstand finish, but Crookedwood held on for a 2-9 to 110 victory. “That was a tough one for me because Ringtown is my home club, but I had a job to do with Crookedwood and was delighted to come through it and get into the final.” Noel continued. The ‘Wood’s 1-8 to 0-17 defeat to Fr. Dalton’s in their championship opener ensured they were underdogs going into the final. The Ballymorebased club also had the experience of playing in the previous two finals, which they lost to Delvin and St. Brigid’s respectively, but Crookedwood showed tremendous guts and character to upset the odds with a 2-11 to 1-8 victory. “We were hungry and the lads played with fire in their bellies. You can’t buy that,” Boyce enthused. Despite playing against the wind in the first half, Crookedwood made the better start with points from Barry O’Mara (two) and Noel Yourell easing them into an early 0-3 to 0-0 lead. Robert Dillon eventually opened Fr. Dalton’s account in the 12th minute
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Vice Captain Barry O'Mara (left) and Captain Enda Murray (right) accept the Division 2 Cup
Hurling Chairman Willie Murphy, Patsy Murray, wife of late Adrian Murray and mother of Crookedwood captain Enda, who lifts the Adrian Murray cup, vice captain Barry O'Mara, Tom Farrell
A family affair. Carol O'Mara, Lorcan O'Mara, Alan O'Mara with the junior camogie and intermediate championship cups