Galway's Nicola Ward said her side won’t lack motivation as they prepare to take on Cork in the TG4 All-Ireland SFC semi-final. On Saturday evening, the Tribeswomen dethroned reigning champions Dublin in an epic contest at Parnell Park.
“I think we owe Cork one... I’m sure it will be another ding-dong battle, as it always is," said the Galway defender and player of the match against Dublin.
On Saturday, July 20, Galway will play Cork in Glenisk O'Connor Park, Tullamore. The game will be played at either 5.15pm and 7.30pm, and will be live on TG4.
Speaking on her side's defeat of Dublin, Ward said: “I suppose we’ve missed them in the championship stages, but in league games, this year they just pipped us by a point. Last year we beat them down in Tuam and in the 2019 All-Ireland there was a goal in it. We knew we could match them.
“There’s no point coming here thinking we’re going to stand down to the All-Ireland champions. We had to come and go hell for leather."
Match Report
Galway opened the scoring in the third-minute of this quarter-final with a routine free from Olivia Divilly. Dublin subsequently opened up a three-point lead with unanswered scores from Sinead Goldrick, Jennifer Dunne, Nicole Owens and Hannah Tyrrell.
However, the visitors were back on level terms when corner-forward Roisin Leonard buried a low shot to the net on 14 minutes. They then proceeded to move back in front when the same player convincingly slotted a free between the posts.
Dublin looked like they were going to end the opening period in the ascendancy when Tyrrell dispatched a 28th minute penalty to the net. A second goal from the excellent Leonard instead offered the westerners a slender 2-2 to 1-4 buffer heading into the dressing rooms.
Yet despite registering a number of wides either side of the interval, Dublin eventually regained their lead with the help of two points on the bounce from Anabelle Timothy and Tyrrell.
The latter score was immediately preceded by the sin-binning of Galway's Aoife Ni Cheallaigh. In her absence, Owens and Tyrrell points either side of another dead-ball special by Leonard had the holders within reach of a last-four spot.
Galway refused to give in however, and points from substitute Ailish Morrissey and Leonard meant that an additional 20 minutes were required to produce a winner.
Yet with defender Niamh Donlon and six-time All-Ireland winner Sinead Aherne supplementing a brace of scores from Tyrrell, Dublin led 1-12 to 2-7 at the start of the second half in extra-time. They were once again in a strong position to push on for victory.
A 0-2 salvo from Olivia Divilly was all that Galway had mustered in the additional periods up to this point, but the Tribeswomen dramatically found themselves back in the driving seat when O’Rourke found a way past Jackies’ net-minder Abby Shiels. An unstoppable left-footed shot four minutes from the end rattled the Dublin net.
Dunne and Tyrrell had opportunities in the tense final moments to force this compelling affair into a free-taking contest, but their efforts fell just short of the target.
