A final quarter collapse by defending title holders Galway ended the county’s hopes of claiming a second successive All-Ireland championship this season.
Galway, who had looked certain to return to this year’s showpiece, were 3-4 to 1-4 ahead after a commanding first-half performance in Sunday’s semi-final at Ballymahon in Longford, and, with 20 minutes remaining, they were still on course, having opened up a nine-point gap. However, in a dramatic finish to the contest, Dublin struck three goals in five minutes to claim a 6-5 to 3-11 win, while Galway could only muster a single point.It was a bitter disappointment for the Galway girls who failed to maintain their composure in the closing stages.
Galway had enjoyed a dream start when 200m athletics All-Ireland champion Tara Hession darted through to feed Deirdre Brennan who blasted in the first of a game-high nine goals.
Before the break Brennan and Orla Dixon both netted fine goals as Galway’s attacking engine was fully warmed up, and although Woods kicked a free for the Dubliners, Galway held a commanding half-time lead.
Galway went nine ahead twice in the second half, led by Jackson and Leonard in attack, yet incredibly they would score just a single point in the remaining 10 minutes.
While Shauna Garvin missed a sitter when blasting wide for goal, Dublin substitute Siobhan Killeen struck her first goal to stun Galway. Inexpicably as Galway lost their shape, Killeen grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and marched through to drive her second goal with two minutes left, and when Aoife Nolan caught a ball from Woods to kick the levelling goal, Dublin went on to booked their berth in the All-Ireland final.
Galway: L Murphy; C McHugh, C Maloney, A Ni Cheallaigh; A Reilly (N Kilgarriff 43m ), A Rohan, C Gibbons; C Newell (A Mannion 58m ), O Dixon (1-0 ); A Cormican (E Muldoon 50m ), T Hession, C Cooney; R Leonard (0-8 4 frees ), D Brennan (2-0 ), S Jackson (0-3 ).
