By Kevin Egan
There were two significant themes in round three of the Centra National Camogie League, at least when it came to the leading counties in Division 1A.
All three games at Ballymena, Freshford and The Ragg featured teams trying to handle strong March winds, and then there was the return of the established powers.
Neither defending champions Cork nor Galway, who defeated them in last year’s All-Ireland final, had won a game in the first two rounds of the campaign and the grim spectre of relegation was starting to open up for them.
Galway’s 1-13 to 0-12 win over Tipperary and a devastating finish from Cork in their 1-15 to 0-9 victory against Kilkenny put the two counties right back into the pack, still with very real aspirations of returning to the league decider.
Waterford remain on the driving seat on the back of their 1-16 to 0-9 win over Antrim, meaning that they are the only side with a perfect nine points from three games, and it was their management of the breeze that saw them effectively take control of the tie with 20 minutes played.
“Any time you play against the wind, you have to sit that bit deeper and work the ball through the hands because you won’t get the length on your strike,” was how manager, Michael Boland described the tactics that helped them move 1-4 to no score in front after 20 minutes.
Lorraine Bray’s shot was deemed to have crossed the line before Antrim goalkeeper, Caitriona Graham could complete the clearance, player of the match Laoise Forrest added an excellent point and while Antrim were competitive for the remainder of the game, they always had at least five or six points to find against the in-form Déise.
“Three from three but we’re not taking anything for granted,” Boland said. “This was a hard match, you come overnight so everything is changed around as opposed to a normal match, but we’re delighted with the performance of all the players, young and old.
“We brought 28 players in and we told them all that they’d all get their chance, and that they had to take it when it came, if they didn’t there’d be someone else ready to step up. We’ve been true to our word, we’re trying to be fair to everyone, because there are a lot of girls that won’t get time in the championship so it’s very important to see them now.”
At Freshford, Cork struggled with the aid of the breeze and looked to be in trouble when they were reeled in by Kilkenny ten minutes into the second half, with the Cats now having the wind at their backs.
But unlike the first couple of weeks when Ger Manley went with experimental sides, this was a Cork team with a lot more familiar faces, including a host of All-Stars and All-Ireland winners. Once one of that cohort – Orlaith Cahalane – rattled the net in the 50th minute, the Rebels didn’t look back.
“I thought we played okay in certain parts of the Waterford and Antrim games but it’s all about winning,” Manley said. “Amy (Lee) in goal, Orlaith Cahalane, Sorcha McCartan, Méabh Cahalane, Laura Hayes was phenomenal today. Izzy O’Regan coming back as well, (it was) great to see her back after 12 months out. Any time you get players like that on the field you’re happy. We probably should have been up a few more scores at half-time, but once we got the goal, we finished well.”
Manley confirmed that there would be more players coming back into the fold for their remaining games against Galway and Tipperary, though he did express both admiration and concern for the long-serving Ashling Thompson, who was forced off the field with a late elbow injury.
“A player fell on her, it was a pure accident, but I think it was her elbow. She’s gone away to hospital now and hopefully that’ll sort it out. She was flying, and it’s better she’s getting. Her enthusiasm and desire is incredible. For her sake and ours, I hope it’s not serious.”
It was a first defeat of the season for a Kilkenny side that has integrated several of the players that were part of last year’s successful minor championship team, and selector Eoin Murphy said that the experience would stand to those teenagers, and the rest of the team.
“The power that Cork brought was really something. They forced that win in the last 20 minutes with their power and their running game. They were under pressure after two defeats and they came with a cause. We thought we matched them, but that last 20 minutes gave us a lot to talk about.
“We got beat in a league match in the first week of March,” he continued. “We didn’t get too high after beating Galway or Tipperary and we won’t over-react to this either. We would have loved to have won today but the beauty of league hurling is there’s another game next week, and for a lot of our girls, this will bring them on a tonne.”
Tipperary’s Caoimhe McCarthy and Galway’s Caoimhe Kelly amongst a phalanx of bodies in the hard-fought Centra League Division 1A tie at The Ragg (Photo: INPHO)
Galway’s four-point win over Tipperary came after a game where the All-Ireland champions fell 0-6 to 0-1 down, but they built on Aoife Donohue’s goal to trail by just a point at the interval. With the wind at their backs, an explosive start to the second half saw Cathal Murray’s troops put an end to a run of two consecutive losses in the 2026 Centra League, and two consecutive defeats at this venue.
“Here in 2022 and 2023 we lost both games, and we got bullied and hockeyed to be honest with you,” Murray said afterwards. “Our backs are still to the wall a small bit with regards to the league, but all we can do is look after ourselves. We were poor last week. There were excuses for it, but there were no excuses today and we just had to come down and put in a performance, and we did that.
“Playing into a wind is about keeping in the game and that comes down to workrate, it comes down to aggression and to attitude. I thought our half-forwards and midfield put in a huge effort, and we were really happy going in at half-time a point down, and our first ten minutes in the second half was really good as well.”
