Liberty Insurance All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship Semi-Final
Cork v Galway
LIT Gaelic Grounds, Limerick, 7.15pm
Referee: Liz Dempsey (Kilkenny)
It was notable how Galway manager Cathal Murray
eschewed anything more than a cursory acknowledgement of his players’
first-half failings in their Quarter-Final victory against Waterford. That
isn’t to say that the players didn’t hear all about it in the dressing room at
the interval or again at training since.
But Murray praised Waterford, and rightly so, for
the Déise found a new level of performance and maturity.
What’s more, he emphasised the brilliance of his
players after the resumption, indicating his belief that they are the equal or
better of anyone when hitting top form, and that they possess the necessary
mental fortitude to turn things around during a game.
While the former had never been in question, it was
doubted whether Galway possessed sufficient self-belief, or a capacity to
reverse their fortunes in real time. They do look to have become a steelier
crew, physically and mentally since Murray came into the fold after last year’s
National League.
Certainly, the manner in which they fended off the
Kilkenny rally in the League Final in March and overcame a significant wobble
to finish strongly and take the spoils was significant.
Their group got underway with a rematch against the
Cats, who had two points to spare at the final whistle, having always been on
top in a tight affair. While that was a disappointment, it wasn’t terminal and
they are in the same stages of the competition now as if they had won that
game.
They haven’t always fired on full cylinders, most
notably against Limerick in the group stage, but were never going to lose that,
while proving far too strong for Offaly and Wexford to secure primary seeding
for the Quarter-Finals.
Waterford provided a real shock to the system and
Carrie Dolan’s accuracy from placed balls was crucial to keep them in touch.
And but for Sarah Healy’s two brilliant saves early in the second-half, with
Waterford leading by four points, who knows what might have eventuated.
But as confidence soared, skipper Sarah Dervan drove
on her charges from full-back, Niamh Kilkenny began to make her presence known
at midfield and with the full-forward line finally in receipt of ammunition,
Ailish O’Reilly and Noreen Coen fired the vital shots.
O’Reilly’s goal killed Waterford off and she has
scored 5-15 from five games to date, while Coen is on 1-11. Dolan’s 10 points
brought her to 27. Aoife Donohue, Heather Cooney, Tara Kenny and Lorraine Ryan
are other key individuals.
Cork finished with a points difference of +83 in
Group 2. That runners-up Tipperary were on +5 is an indication of their total
supremacy. One area that seems to be established more than any other now is
their conditioning, where the added years of elite preparation in this regard
compared to many of their rivals, has seen them blow teams away in the
second-half, when games have been competitive in the first.
A panel that has claimed the last two All-Ireland
titles has been strengthened by the introduction of last year’s
All-Ireland-winning Minors and Intermediates, Saoirse McCarthy and Clíona
Healy, while Laura Hayes, another member of the 2018 Minors, is in her second
season on the panel and Ciara McCarthy is another teenager making their
presence felt.
Yet Cork still possesses as strong and experienced a
spine as you could wish for, from Aoife Murray, her successor as captain Gemma
O’Connor, Orla Cotter and the Mackey sisters Katrina and Pamela. Amy O’Connor
continues to be a threat and Linda Collins has benefited from a consistent 2018
to become firmly established in the attack.
Paudie Murray’s squad have gone about their business
remarkably quietly for a crew pursuing a three-in-a-row. Failure to get to the
League Final would not have caused any sleepless nights but the concern for
Murray and his backroom staff will be facing a Galway team that had a real
workout a fortnight previously, while not having played themselves for four
weeks.
It is not a situation they are unaccustomed to
however, and one recalls them being pushed all the way by the same opposition
in similar circumstances two years ago. We can expect a cracker once again.
Liberty Insurance All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship Semi-Final
Kilkenny v Tipperary
LIT Gaelic Grounds, Limerick, 5.30pm
Referee: John Dermody (Westmeath)
This is one of the deadliest rivalries in Gaelic
Games, and it is fantastic to see it played out on one of the biggest stage of
the Camogie calendar once more.
Kilkenny have, of course, been regulars at this
level, and are serial Semi-Final victors, pursuing a fourth consecutive Final
appearance and a sixth in seven seasons.
On the other hand, Tipperary haven’t dined at the
top table for since 2006 when among the panel was Mary Ryan, who has had a
stellar season so far. They haven’t won the O’Duffy Cup since the previous
year, when their skipper was the unrelated Joanne Ryan, back in the fold on the
Intermediate squad that claimed Division 2 League honours this year and has
also reached the penultimate hurdle of their Championship.
The Intermediates are returning to the last four and
so too are the Seniors, which is indicative of the progression that has been
made and a pleasing consistency of performance. This has been done while
introducing some of the All-Ireland Minor runners-up of 2015, the champions of
2016 and a handful of the current talented squad too.
This campaign has had its well-publicised
tribulations, not least the loss of manager Bill Mullaney for health reasons,
but the remaining mentors took up the cudgel, with Niamh Lillis the public face
of what she emphasises is a group effort.
The Premiers came through the group stages with four
consecutive wins to finish second, overcoming losses during games of key
individuals such as Orla O’Dwyer and Karen Kennedy, in a couple of those ties
to advance.
They then withstood an early Limerick onslaught to
grind out a win in the Semi-Final. O’Dwyer was magnificent at Semple Stadium
that evening, with Kennedy, Niamh Treacy and Mary Ryan, filling in at full-back
due to the injury of Gemma Grace, having already played centre-back and midfield
this season, others to shine. Cáit Devane worked selflessly as usual and on a
difficult evening for freetakers, was unerring from placed balls. Megan Ryan
has been a real goal threat throughout the campaign running from deep positions
while the younger element is represented by the likes of Grace O’Toole. Nicole
Walsh has recovered from concussion to be a major option from the bench and
Clodagh Quirke is an excellent team captain.
Kilkenny have taken off the shackles this year,
having deployed Anne Dalton as sweeper in recent seasons and withdrawn numbers
to clog up the middle third in preparation largely for the Cork challenge. The
2016 champions only lost the last two deciders to the Rebels by the minimum
margin on each occasion but it appears that Ann Downey has decided to go for
the jugular this time around.
While the Stripeywomen have always had heavy
scorers, they have ramped it up this term with five individuals recording 3-10
or more in just four games: Dalton, Denise Gaule, Katie Power, Michelle Quilty
and Miriam Walsh.
The repositioning of Dalton has clearly been the
most notable aspect of this shift in emphasis. It should be remembered that the
St. Lachtain’s legend earned three All-Stars at centre-back and is the reigning
Player of the year, but she was player of the year a decade ago as a
midfielder, from where she earned her other three All-Stars gongs. Most of this
season has seen her operating across the half-forward line, with the odd
midfield appearance, and in accumulating 5-10 from play, at an average of just
over 1-3 a game, is her side’s leading scorer.
Dalton also got a goal as Kilkenny launched an
ultimately fruitless second-half rally in the League Final against Galway but
they gained some measure of recompense for that defeat, albeit with no
silverware on the line, when having two points to spare over the Tribeswomen in
the opening tie of the Championship. Comfortable victories were registered
subsequently against Wexford, Offaly and Limerick.
If Tipperary can get enough possession, and get the
deployment of Mary Ryan right – marker or springboard for attacks – they do
have the artillery to ask questions of a Kilkenny defence that possesses plenty
of redoubtable operators such as Edwina Keane, Emma Kavanagh, Grace Walsh and
Collette Dormer but has been largely untested since the Galway outing.
They have also shown that they possess the mindset
to roll with the punches, as well as the quality to land a killer blow but
Kilkenny exude a sense that the whole year has been about September 8th after
their last two agonising near-misses and will be hot favourites.
