Galway ladies come up short in league final
Date Published: {J}
Cork 2-10Galway 1-9
JASON BYRNE at Parnell Park
GALWAY ladies footballers are still searching for their first ever National League title after losing out to the might of Cork in the Division One showpiece at Parnell Park on Saturday.
Winning their fifth league crown in five years, it was a scoring burst of 1-4 without reply from the rebelettes that proved the difference in a competitive showdown.
Valerie Mulcahy was in sensational form for Eamon Ryan’s charges – hitting a whopping 1-6 of their tally. But the Galway defence ensured that other Cork maestros, such as Mairead Kelly and Anne-Marie Walsh, struggled to make an impact and failed to get on the scoresheet.
The opening quarter was dominated by fouling but Dublin referee Keith Tighe refrained from punishing either side in the form of the sin-bin. Fingallians’ Niamh Duggan drew first blood for Galway who took a while to get into gear, and Cork capitalized when Mulcahy struck the net on 15 minutes to finish a sublime passing move.
Lorna Joyce showed why she has been a key figure in Galway teams over the years with a sublime score, but Mulcahy then landed two more points to put Cork 1-4 to 0-2 ahead.
Battling as they have done all year; Galwaykept toiling and eventually found the net through Edel Concannon, who has enjoyed a good league campaign in terms of raising the green flag.
Aiming for a point just inside the 13-metre line; the Tuam-Cortoon ace’s drive took a fierce dip as it sailed towards goal, eluding Elaine Harte and landing in the net to fling Galway right back into the tense contest.
As the sun began to weaken and Galway grew in confidence, the revitalised Aoibheann Daly was dominating midfield for the Connacht champions and raced forward to reduce the deficit to a single score at the interval.
Earlier, team manager Gay O’Brien had thrown on a mixture of youth and experience from the bench in the form of soccer international Dora Gorman and Corofin stalwart Patricia Gleeson. It seemed to be paying off.
For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.