The Galway senior camogie team enjoyed a comfortable 3-14 to 1-11 win over Limerick in Bruff at the weekend in their third round championship group game.
Niamh Kilkenny returned from a finger injury to make a really big impact and she had a goal and point on the board as Galway led by 1-3 to 0-0 early on.
Niamh Hannify also hit the back of the Limerick net in the first half and Cathal Murray's charges led by 2-7 to 0-5 at half time, eventually ending the tie as nine point victors. The team played with a very high level of work-rate and the forwards were too strong for the Limerick rearguard.
Galway now top group two with three victories from three outings, and they will face Kilkenny on Saturday July 21 to see who will progress directly to the All-Ireland semi-finals.
Kilkenny are also on a good run and have four points from two wins.
They defeated Waterford narrowly last weekend by 1-13 to 0-10.
Winners into semi-final
Team manager Murray is looking forward to the “winner-takes-all” clash with Kilkenny in two weeks' time, and sees that clash as a key indicator to whether or not Galway are genuine All-Ireland challengers this year.
The Tribeswomen have long been the bridesmaids when it comes to the Liberty Insurance All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship, and have failed to build on winning the title five years ago in 2013.
Murray only took on the job as manager after the conclusion of the National League, replacing Tony O’Donovan, and is Galway’s fifth boss in four seasons.
Group winners progress directly to the semi-finals and that target is what Galway will be chasing on Saturday fortnight.
“We believe we are contenders for this All-Ireland and the Kilkenny game is going to prove whether we are in fact, contenders or not, ” said Murray after his side’s victory last weekend.
“Taking on Kilkenny will be a massive ask, but we are looking forward to the challenge.
“Confidence is high in the squad and we’re improving all the time. There’s a lot of things to work on - but we’re very happy where we are. We targeted three wins at the start of the group, hoped to win the three of them, and probably set up a winner-takes-all game against Kilkenny."
