Cork and Limerick will contest the All-Ireland minor A camogie final after two hard-fought victories over Tipperary and Galway respectively writes Daragh Ó Conchúir.
Limerick’s defeat of the only non-Munster outfit in the last four was the surprise result but there was no questioning its merit, as the Shannonsiders were the better team throughout in Corofin.
Their pace caused the hosts untold problems but it was the brilliant senior player, Caoimhe Costelloe that Galway had no answers to. The Limerick skipper scored 10 of her team’s points as they cemented their place in the decider, 0-12 to 0-6.
It was 0-5 apiece at the end of a tight first half, with Costelloe and Ciana Ní Churraoin scoring four points each.
Limerick inflicted the most damage on Galway in the third quarter, winning the majority of breaking balls to feed Costelloe, who added two frees to two scores from play as the girls in green moved into a double-score lead.
Ní Churraoin slotted Galway’s only score of the second half in the 46th minute and though the westerners wasted four good goal chances that might have made a difference, it was Costelloe who struck with the last two scores of the game.
Cork progressed from a higher-scoring affair against Tipperary in Kilmallock by 3-13 to 2-13. Linda Collins was the star of this particular show, scoring all three of the winners’ goals. The full-forward would have had a fourth but for an outstanding full-length diving save from Caoimhe Burke to deny a shot that was destined for the top corner.
The Leesiders had the wind in the first half but Róisín Howard gave Tipp a tremendous boost with a 10th minute goal. Collins got her first nine minutes later and crucially, notched up her second on the stroke of half time to give her side a 2-7 to 1-4 interval advantage.
Tipp were level after nine minutes of the second half after flying out of the traps at the start of the second half. Miriam Campion got her side’s second goal to bring the teams level but significantly, Collins responded immediately at the other end to halt the momentum of the Premier County’s finest.
Derry will play Waterford in the All-Ireland minor B final, with Aoife Shaw the key contributor for the Oak Leafers, scoring 2-3 as they overcame Kildare in Inniskeen by 6-6 to 1-6. Shannon O’Kane weighed in with a brace of goals while Eimear McGuigan and Adrianne Gorman also found the back of the Kildare net.
The Lilywhites never stopped trying and had plenty of possession, but just could not stop leaking goals. They were heavily reliant on Emer O’Reilly, who was a key operator when the Suirsiders annexed the C title last year. O’Reilly weighed in with 1-5 but it wasn’t enough to deny Derry.
In the other semi-final at the St Peregrine’s club in Blakestown, Waterford had seven points to spare from Down, advancing courtesy of a 2-12 to 2-5 scoreline.
