Galway have returned to the All-Ireland U16A Camogie final after a hard-fought victory over a tough Cork outfit in Mallow on Sunday.
Cork had the upper hand on Galway in their opening round of the championship. However, it was clear throughout this contest that Galway had improved massively as the competition progressed.
It was Cork who started the brightest with a free through the stick of their top scorer on the day, Ciara Murphy. Galway followed up with two well-taken scores from play, by Emma Barrett and Ciara Costello in the seventh and 10th minutes, putting Galway into the lead for the first time.
Murphy slotted two more points for the Lee-siders - one through a free - to leave Cork in the driving seat again in the 19th minute. A good pass from Emily Corcoran found Barrett in the 22nd minute, and Barrett made no mistake in popping the ball over the bar.
Erin Healy was fouled in the square for Cork a minute later, but Caoilann Ryan’s penalty was well saved by Leah Horan in the Galway goal. Katie Murray pointed a free just before half-time to leave Galway in the lead. The score read 0-4 to 0-3 heading into the break.
Murray extended Galway’s lead with another point at the start of the second half, but Gemma Classen put the Rebels back into the lead by the 33rd minute. She pulled on a ball and blasted it into the back of the Galway net.
Scores were hard to come by, and credit must go to both goalkeepers, who both pulled off some great saves at the beginning of the half. Mary Brigid Cosgrove did manage to break down the Cork defence in the 43rd minute to restore Galway’s lead again. This was Galway’s opening goal of the game.
Murphy followed up with a free and a point a minute later, leaving the sides level with 14 minutes to play. But Galway scored two quick fire goals in the space of two minutes. Barrett scored one in the 47th minute - while a long ball in from Katelyn Walsh from a free found its way to the back of the Cork net a minute later. This left Galway six in front.
Murphy and Walsh swapped frees in the 51st and 57th minutes, while Laura Walsh did get in for a Cork goal with three minutes left to play. However, it wasn’t enough, as Galway ran out 3-6 to 2-6 winners on the day.
The Galway girls will now face Limerick, a side that they drew with only a few weeks ago, in UPMC Nowlan Park on Saturday at 4:30pm.
They will be hoping to put the disappointment of last year behind them and go one step further this time around.
