It was a historic day for Galway camogie, as Sarsfields and Athenry both qualified for the All Ireland Camogie Finals.
Sarsfields (above) battled hard to overcome a strong Burgess Duharra side with scores from Sarsfields' Niamh and Siobhan McGrath and Jenny Grace from Burgess scoring 5 consecutive points to put the two sides level going into half time. Siobhan McGrath set the ball rolling again with a point three minutes into the second half, followed shortly by a free. This was met by 2 successful frees from Grace, bringing the teams level again. Two fantastic points from Sarsfields Siobhan McGrath was enough to send the Galway girls through despite a last minute attempt by Tara Kennedy who scored in the 59th minute. At a scoreline of 0-10 to 0-9 Sarsfields will meet their rivals Slaughtneil from Derry in the All Ireland final with hopes of winning the Bill Carroll cup for the first time.Champions Slaughtneil are back in the AIB All-Ireland Senior Club Camogie Final but did it the hard way, needing extra time before getting the better of Kilkenny side Thomastown by 0-14 to 0-11 at Inniskeen Grattans.
Athenry (below) are through to the All Ireland Intermediate final following a 6 point win over Waterford side, Lismore. In the difficult conditions, it was the Athenry girls led by Therese Maher, Jessica Gill and Rebecca Glynn who were quick to adapt. At half time time they led 0-5 to 0-2 with 4 points from Maher and the other from Gill. Niamh Hannon kicked off the second half with two points from play and Noreen Coen added one more to the score board to seal the 6 point win on a scoreline of 0-8 to 0-2. They will play Johnstownbridge from Kildare in the final on March 3rd in Croke Park.
All Ireland Senior Camogie finals, featuring Galway teams:
1967: Eoghan Ruadh,Dublin/Oranmore, Galway (3-4 to 4-1) 1973: Oranmore, Galway/St. Paul’s, Kilkenny (3-2 to 1-3)
1974: St. Paul’s, Kilkenny/Oranmore, Galway (3-3 to 1-1)
1975: Croagh-Kilfinny, Limerick/Athenry, Galway (4-6 to 4-5)
1976: St. Paul’s, Kilkenny/Athenry, Galway (6-3 to 1-3)
1977: Athenry, Galway/Portglenone, Antrim ( 10-5 to 1-1)
1979: Buffer’s Alley, Wexford/Athenry, Galway (2-6 to 1-2)
1982: Buffer’s Alley, Wexford/Athenry, Galway (3-2 to 0-2)
1983: Buffer’s Alley, Wexford/Glenamaddy, Galway (3-7 to 0-6)
1985: Crumlin, Dublin/Athenry, Galway (4-8 to 3-2)
1988: St. Paul’s, Kilkenny/Glenamaddy, Galway (4-5 to 3-7)
1989: St. Paul’s, Kilkenny/Mullagh, Galway (6-10 to 4-2)
1991: Mullagh, Galway/Eglish, Tyrone (4-13 to 2-7)
1993: Glen Rovers, Cork/Mullagh, Galway (6-12 to 0-2)
1996: Pearses, Galway/Granagh-Ballingarry, Limerick (1-8 to 2-3)
1997: Pearses, Galway/Lisdowney, Kilkenny (4-6 to 2-5)
1999: Granagh-Ballingarry,Lmrk/Davitt’s, Galway (1-10 to 1-6)
2000: Pearses, Galway/Swatragh, Derry (2-11 to 1-3)
2001: Pearses, Galway/Cashel, Tipperary (2-8 to 0-13)
2002: Pearses, Galway/St. Ibar’s, Wexford (2-13 to 1-5)
2003: Granagh-Ballingarry,Lmrk/Davitt’s, Galway (1-10 to 1-6)
2005: St. Lachtain’s, Kilkenny/Davitt’s, Galway (1-9 to 1-4)
2007: Cashel, Tipperary/Athenry, Galway (1-18 to 0-9)
2009: Cashel, Tipperary/Athenry, Galway (0-11 to 0-9)
2010: Killimor, Galway/Inniscarra, Cork (3-18 to 1-4)
2012: Milford, Cork/Killimor, Galway (3-6 to 1-6)
2013: Milford, Cork/Ardrahan, Galway (0-6 to 0-5)
2014: Oulart-The-Ballagh, Wexford/Mullagh, Galway (3-13 to 0-7)
2015: Milford, Cork/Killimor, Galway (2-8 to 1-3)
2016: Slaughtneil, Derry/Sarsfields, Galway (1-10 to 0-11)
All Ireland Intermediate Club Championship: 2010: Eoghan Rua, Derry/The Harps, Laois
2011: Eoghan Rua, Derry/Ardrahan, Galway
2012: Castlegar, Galway/The Rower Inistioge, Kilkenny
2013: Lismore, Waterford/Ballyhale Shamrocks, Kilkenny
2014: Piltown, Kilkenny/Lismore, Waterford
2015: Cahir, Tipperary/Eyrecourt, Galway
2016: Myshall, Carlow/Eglish, Tyrone
