Cathal Murray delighted as Galway begin to hit their straps
Cathal Murray hailed Galway's 'best half-hour of hurling for a while,' as the Tribeswomen cantered to a 1-17 to 0-12 victory over Kilkenny at UPMC Nowlan Park to signal that they are growing into their Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship campaign at just the right time.
On a day when the Cork enjoyed a comfortable but unspectacular home win, Tipperary, Waterford and Galway also put their hands up with impressive victories that keep them on O'Duffy Cup holders' coat-tails.
The leading challengers had plenty to spare in their wins over Limerick, Dublin and Kilkenny respectively, and Murray was particularly pleased to see his side move through the gears in the second half, as they went from two points up to an eight-point triumph.
'Coming down to Nowlan Park is never easy, and it wasn't easy,' said the Galway manager. 'The first half was really tight, and we were very happy to go in at half-time a couple of points up. There was a strong breeze in it, though you wouldn't think it looking at it,' he said afterwards.
'The second half was different, it was our best half an hour of hurling for a while now, our play was really good and we took some good scores.' Among the highlights were from some excellent moments from player of the match Aoife Donohoe, and a real poacher's goal from Niamh Niland in the closing minutes.
The result means that top spot in Group 2, and the prize of a bye through to the last four, will go to the winner of next week's game in Athenry between Galway and Waterford.
'This was always going to be a huge week for us. We had to come down and do our business here and we'll have to do our business again in Kenny Park in a week's time because Waterford are flying it, they're the form team in the group,' Murray concluded.
The Déise's 4-16 to 2-11 win over Dublin in Walsh Park, with the visitors' goals coming from Aisling Maher and Emma Flanagan in second-half stoppage time long after the result was decided, ensures that they currently top the table on score difference. Consequently, a draw will be enough for them to bypass the quarter-finals, set to be played in Croke Park in a fortnight as curtain raisers to the two All-Ireland SHC semis.
That's nine majors in two games for a Waterford side that had previously been criticised for being goal-shy, three of them coming from the stick of Annie Fitzgerald.
'That was massive for us to qualify for the knockout stages early enough,' said Fitzgerald. 'In previous years we've been chasing this, now it's a one match, winner-takes-all against Galway to see who goes straight to a semi-final.
Manager Mick Boland was delighted with how his players responded after going five points down early on when playing into the wind.
'The breeze was very strong, the ball was going an extra ten yards further so we just had to retreat back down the field,' Boland told Off The Ball. 'Then we started to collect a bit of ball then and started to work the ball through the hands. We created three or four goal chances and took two of them.
'Against Kilkenny we put a lot of shots at head or stomach height. Since then, we've learned that if you hit the ball into the ground, it'll either hit the net or it'll need an exceptional save. We've worked a lot on our handling errors too.' With Waterford leading 2-7 to 0-8 at half-time, the second half was one-way traffic, the winners adding 2-7 without reply in the 20 minutes after the resumption. Having already secured a first ever championship win over Kilkenny, Boland's mob are looking to break fresh ground again next week.
'We're qualified, but we look at the Galway match as a match where history can be made, because we've never won in Galway. These girls have a lot of ambition, they want to win something, so we'll want to win, the same as Galway will want to win.'
In Group 1, Clare went to SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh and exploded out of the blocks with a Jennifer Daly goal after 45 seconds, but Cork methodically went about their business and were full value for their 0-21 to 1-9 victory, albeit Amy Lee had to make a couple of excellent saves late on to prevent a more nerve-wracking finale.
Next week Cork will play a Wexford side that are in the relegation final against either Dublin or Derry regardless of how they fare, and it would take an unusual set of results for Tipperary to pip Cork to the top spot in the pool. Limerick need an even more outlandish result – a Tipp home win over Clare by 60 points or more – to extend their season.
After succumbing to a 4-26 to 0-8 loss in Cappamore, Limerick manager, Joe Quaid's hailed his players' 'remarkably good year,' despite the wide margin.
'This result is proof that the system is flawed,' declared Quaid. 'We had two outstanding matches against Wexford and Clare but were on the end of two hammerings by the two top-tier teams, Cork and Tipp. It's disheartening for the girls because they gave everything they could out there and that's all you can ask.
'If anyone's interested in developing camogie they need to take a look at the championship structure countrywide because these girls train as hard as the Limerick senior hurlers, they're as committed and they don't deserve this.
'To me we've had a remarkably good year. It's been a fruitful year and hopefully this bunch will stick together. That's the big problem, turnover of players. I hope all these girls will stay together next year and build on it again.'
Tipperary coach, Michael Ferncombe was already looking ahead but he has had some words of comfort for the Shannonsider.
'Both teams managed the heat very well today, both teams worked hard, the honesty from the two teams was great,' Ferncombe enthused.
'We've played Limerick twice this year and it's always a challenge. The scoreboard doesn't reflect the performance and the effort that the Limerick girls put in. Their honesty, work rate and communication, they kept working the whole way through and that's a great sign for the future of Limerick camogie.
'We've Clare next weekend and a quarter-final in two weeks' time so that's the next step for us now.'
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