Galway 1-22 Tipperary 0-10
The maxim that a strong start is half the battle proved true for Galway’s senior camogie team on Saturday when they tore into Tipperary from the off and registered a massive lead that they never relinquished in this one-sided but entertaining quarter-final in Thurles.
Facing a wind in that opening half, Galway built up a ten-point lead, holding their opponents scoreless for a long spell, before a resurgence of sorts saw the Premier County reduce the deficit to just seven points at the break.
Orlaith, Siobhan, and Niamh McGrath ran riot in that first half as Galway broke through the Tipp defence far too easily — with Maria Cooney, Ailish O’Reilly, and Niamh Kilkenny on fire.
What struck most about this performance though was the incredible energy of this Galway team who covered back, and hooked and tackled, hassling Tipp into error after error and giving them an evening to forget.
It will be a lot more difficult against Cork in the semi-final on Saturday week in Limerick, but this Galway side have shown what they are capable of. Firing nearly a dozen wides will be a luxury they can ill afford to repeat the next day.
Heather Cooney and Tara Kenny were stalwarts in the engine room, but there were star performances right across the team.
There is an intensity about this team that will ask questions of Cork, and their focus and efficiency in front of the posts will have to improve if they are to progress to the final — a feat they are well capable of achieving as they strive to bring home the first senior title since 2013.
SCORERS FOR GALWAY: A O’Reilly 1-7(0-6fs, 0-1 45 ); N Kilkenny 0-4; N McGrath 0-3; M Cooney, S McGrath 0-2 each; O’McGrath, A M Starr, A Donohue, C Finnerty 0-1 each
SCORERS FOR TIPPERARY: C Devane 0-3(2fs ), Ciardha Maher 0-2, O O’Dwyer 0-2, M Teehan 0-1, Megan Ryan 0-1, R Howard
GALWAY: Sarah Healy, S Dervan, R Black, T Kenny, H Cooney, R Hennelly, L Ryan, O McGrath, A M Starr, N McGrath, M Cooney, N Kilkenny, A Donohue, A O’Reilly, S McGrath. Subs: N Hanniffy for Cooney (51 ), C McGrath for Black (55 ), Shauna Healy for Kenny (56 ), C Finnerty for Donohue (58 ), N Coen for S McGrath 58 )
TIPPERARY: O McEniry, C Walsh, G Grace, J A Bourke, A McGrath, Caoimhe Maher, C Quirke, E Fryday, Megan Ryan, O O’Dwyer, C Devane, N Walsh, Mary Ryan, R Howard, Ciardha Maher. Subs: M Teehan for McGrath temp (23, McGrath for Fryday 33 ), T Ryan for Caoimhe Maher (37 ), E Loughman for Bourke (37 ), M Campion for Walsh (53 )
REFEREE: O Elliott (Antrim )
