Waterford ace Trish Jackman captured a third successive M Donnelly All-Ireland Camogie Poc Fada title in the 50th anniversary of the event in the Annaverna mountains.
Jackman became the first player to win the competition three times but had to pull out all the stops to hold off young Galway debutante Rachel Monaghan, and former two-time winner Lyndsay Condell from Carlow.
Jackman finished the course by covering 45m in 18 pucks, with Monaghan taking 19 pucks to cover 37m and Condell just a further metre behind with 19 pucks.
Indeed, so competitive was the camogie section that the highest number of pucks over the course was 21.
Gaultier clubwoman Jackman was competing for the sixth time and was a member of the Waterford team that won this year’s Irish Daily Star Division 2 league final. She has also won two Ashbourne Cups and an All-Ireland Féile nan Gael Skills medal.
Monaghan produced a sensational effort in her first experience of the unique demands of the competition. The Mullagh girl has won U16 and minor county medals, as well as a Connacht schools memento this year and a Pan Celtic medal in 2009. She is certain to be a major contender for years to come.
Condell won the M Donnelly All-Ireland camogie title in 2007 and 2008. The Naomh Bríd clubwoman in Carlow has won the Kilmacud Poc Fada on three occasions and will be back to challenge once again next year.
The field was completed by Louth representative Voureen Quigley, Armagh’s Christina Heaney, Derry player Kathleen Taggart and Sara Murphy from Limerick.
