By Kevin Egan
Wins for Waterford, Kilkenny and Galway in Saturday’s final round of games in Division 1A of the Very National Camogie League ensured that the two south-east rivals preserved their status in the top division for next year, while Galway secured their place the final alongside Cork on April 13 at Semple Stadium.
The Tribeswomen will contest their sixth consecutive league final after they overcame Cork by 0-19 to 0-13 in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, with Carrie Dolan picking up the player of the match accolade.
Dolan shot 0-10 with Aoife Donohue and Ailish O’Reilly also scoring well, though she insisted that things would be very different when the sides renew their rivalry in Semple Stadium.
“We had more to play for here than Cork, we wanted to get into a league final and they were already in it, so we had that extra edge I suppose,” the Galway captain said afterwards.
“We were put in a position where we had to win and we stood up when we had to. We had a good range of scorers, 19 points is a positive. But when it comes to the final, it will have zero significance. Cork were down players today and we were down one or two as well. It’s going to be a completely different game.”
Cork led by 0-3 to 0-2 early on before Galway went on a run of seven scores in a row, and with the breeze set to blow at their backs for the second half, their 0-11 to 0-4 interval lead meant that they were already well on the road towards securing the win they needed.
“We started by opting to go against it, something that we’ve done a few times this year. When you come in at half-time and you’ve been up against the breeze you feel like you’ve a small bit of a cushion. Cork came back straight away at us, but we rallied and came back again.
“This is the biggest stadium we played in, and in the bigger stadium, the goals look that bit bigger. It’ll be similar next time in Semple Stadium, we’ve played there a couple of times and we’re looking forward to it.”
As it happened, Galway would have been in the final regardless of the result. Tipperary needed to win to have any chance of securing second spot in the table, but instead it was the Déise’s day at Walsh Park, with Waterford hitting the last three scores of the game to edge out a tense battle in tough conditions by 0-10 to 0-9.
Team captain Lorraine Bray emphasized how important that win was for a Waterford side that were still in the relegation mix before the ball was thrown in.
“1A is where every team wants to be,” Bray told WLRF Sport. “We knew today that we had to come out and perform. We knew Tipp would put up a tough battle and it was every bit of that. We felt every bit of it. We needed that performance and we needed that win.”
A vital save from Noelle Murphy to deny Karen Kennedy kept Waterford close enough to allow Niamh Rockett (free), Emer O’Neill and Annie Fitzgerald to score the winning points, with championship intensity on show from both sides.
“The hits were something else,” Bray admitted. “Both teams were so up for it. I was even saying it in the dressing room at half-time, it was the first time during the league that we had fire in our bellies. It should be every match. It was brilliant to see it out there today and hopefully we can bring that into the Munster Championship.”
Dublin needed to beat Kilkenny to preserve their top-flight status, but Kilkenny, also in relegation danger, racked up a comfortable 2-16 to 0-14 win, despite Dublin scoring five of the last seven points.
Despite totting up the biggest tally of the day, it was the clean sheet that was most satisfying according to skipper Katie Power, who returned to the side for the first time after injury to operate in front of the full-back line..
“When I came back in training, it was something the lads threw me into to get me on a bit of ball,” Power said of her new role as a sweeper.
“It was about shoring up things in defence and I wasn’t very sure of some aspects of how to play it, but I had great girls behind me, and if you can make sure that you don’t concede much, you’re half-way there.
“It was the first game all league that we didn’t concede a goal so that’s definitely going to bring confidence up through the team”.
Power was visibly delighted to be back on the field and looking forward to helping oversee the transition to a new generation of Kilkenny camogie stars.
“(Captaincy) was great, it was something that I’d have dreamed off since first playing as a young girl. That responsibility and that role is something that I’ll be forever grateful for, and hopefully there’ll be a few more days like it.
“It’s a new team and a young team, but there’s talent there, these are good young players. It’s Ava Brett’s first season and she was unreal again today, doing thankless work and making a bit contribution in a lot of areas.
“Steffi (Fitzgerald), she was an unreal leader. )layers like Laura Murphy… it’s their team now and if I can help contribute to bring on those young girls, I will. But they’ll be the players that will drive things on coming into the Leinster Championship and the All-Ireland,” she said.
