By Daragh Ó Conchúir
Galway made it two out of two in the Irish Daily Star Camogie League Division 1 when making light work of Dublin on a 1-17 to 0-6 scoreline at Duggan Park, Ballinasloe.
The visitors were coming off a fantastic victory over Tipperary but never got going against the westerners, who by contrast were outstanding, particularly in the opening half.
Whereas Dublin only managed one point in that first period, courtesy of free-taker Muireann O’Gorman, Galway registered 13. All six scoring forwards got on the mark in that passage of play.
Jessica Gill, Veronica Curtin, Aislinn Connolly, Tara Rutledge, Brenda Hanney and Noreen Coen put their names on the scoresheet and Dublin had no answer to their opponents’ firepower.
It might even have been worse at the interval but for a smart save by visiting goalkeeper, Helen Cosgrave from the marauding Hanney.
The Blues were much more competitive after the resumption but with Sarah Dervan a commanding force at centre-back for Galway, they remained heavily reliant on O’Gorman’s accuracy from placed balls as she added four more points from frees.
Ciara Berkeley did register their only point from play ten minutes from time but Galway remained a threat themselves and Cosgrave was called into action to make another great save from Coen, while Curtin dragged a ground shot just wide.
The Tribeswomen finally broke the brave resistance of Cosgrave and eye-catching defenders, Fiona Hayes and Elaine O’Meara, two minutes from the end.
With everyone expecting Connolly to add to her eight points from a free, the wing-forward instead employed some quick-thinking to find Curtin on her own. Curtin drilled a powerful shot to the Dublin net to complete the scoring and put Galway in a strong early position to grab a semi-final position.
Meanwhile, Waterford continued their rise up camogie’s ladder with a brilliant victory over neighbours Wexford in Division 2.
This was a cracking tie, with very little between the teams from start to finish.
Jackie Quigley and Susie McGovern were amongst the scorers for Wexford but Waterford always had their noses in front, due largely to Deirdre Fahy’s five points. With Zoe O’Donohue and Nicola Morrissey also finding the mark on a couple of occasions each, that was enough for the Suirsiders to celebrate a memorable win.
In other Division 2 results, Cork were comfortable 1-12 to 0-4 victors over Tipperary, while Antrim had to give best to Ulster rivals Derry 0-11 to 0-8.
