So close and yet so far once again for Galway

Eoghan Cormican

Sickening. Absolutely sickening. It’s hard to find a better or more apt adjective to describe Sunday’s All Ireland senior camogie final. Hearts sunk with the sounding of the final whistle.

Galway had come close, so close you could even visualise Brenda Hanney lifting the O’Duffy Cup, the homecoming to Killimor. Alas, it all unraveled so quickly. From nowhere, Wexford pounced and there was to be no way back.

Heartache and disappointment on September’s second Sunday has become an almost annual occurrence in the West. For Heather Cooney, Ann Marie Starr, Noreen Coen and Martina Conroy it was their first time to taste defeat at Croke Park.

Others such as Tara Rutledge and Brenda Hanney were left desolated for a second successive year. For Niamh Kilkenny, just 22 years of age, it was a third loss in four years. For Therese Maher the number stands at five.

Being there before doesn’t make it any easier to handle though and the mood in the Galway camp afterwards was devastation. The defeat was extremely hard to take, as this time, Galway delivered, fronted up, use whatever phrase you like. Galway played the better camogie for three quarters of the tie, but still, the famine continues.

Dragging themselves off the floor mentally is going to be a big ask of these players, how they will respond to last Sunday, however, will not be known for quite a while. Can they bounce back with a vengeance of will they fade away such as Galway did after successive defeats in 1997 and 1998.

In any event, bar the outstanding performances of Kate Kelly, Josie Dwyer, Claire O’Connor and Ursula Jacob, Wexford were second best in almost every other position. Galway did to Wexford what the South East women were supposed to do to them.

Galway worked tirelessly, hooked, blocked and tackled with a physical nature normally associated with Wexford. The defending champions just couldn’t cope and were forced to make several positional switched to regain momentum. From the throw in it was obvious Galway weren’t going to be brushed aside as easily as they were last year.

But as the game entered the final quarter and having failed to make any inroads on the Galway lead up to that point, Wexford didn’t panic. Their experience came to the fore and they showed buckets of character to draw level before edging ahead.

In the many post mortems that will be conducted this week, all will point to Galway’s failure to score in the last 10 minutes as decisive. Cutting a disconsolate figure, manager Noel Finn realised the significance of the statistic, the only blotch on an otherwise unblemished page.

“When you go 10 minutes without scoring, especially the last 10 minutes, you’re not going to hold out. They got the break and they took their scores. When Tara got the goal I thought we would drive on because we were hurling well at that stage, but Wexford dug deep and got the result and its heartbreak again for us this year,” Finn said. 

The Cappataggle man revealed that during half-time, he pleaded with the Galway players to exhaust their every last ounce of energy and they responded to the manager’s call. By the 37th minute Galway had reversed a two point deficit into a three point advantage. This was Galway’s time - or so we thought.

“We talked about getting a good start to the second half and we did get a good start and we drove at them. We went three or four points up and I thought when we got the goal that we would drive on, but Wexford hung in there and a few little things didn’t go our way. I’m majorly disappointed, gutted for the players because they have worked really hard to get back.

“I thought myself we weathered the storm. Things didn’t really go our way in the first half; we hung in there and fought hard. I thought if we were a point or two down at half time we could regroup. We came out all guns blazing, and went three points up.”

What will really sicken Galway this week is the manner in which they tied up with victory in sight. Wexford were vulnerable, but the killer blow was never landed. Clearly relieved to still be alive in the contest after a litany of Galway misses, Wexford drew breath and the rest was a bitter cocktail of experience, class and magnificent conviction.

“It is disappointing when you don’t drive on but when you don’t score in the last 10 minutes it is going to have a big bearing on the game. If we could have put another point on the board and try to have that four or five point cushion, it would take them two or three scores to come back and try and draw it.

“The goal came against the run of play. It was a sucker punch that late, they got their dander up. They were winning the breaks and when you’re on the back foot it is very hard to try and push on.“I just thought when Wexford went in front they killed the game, that’s experience, we have to learn, it’s very hard to lose two finals. I said coming up here today we were well prepared, better than last year and if we played to our ability we would have got a result.

“Wexford hit us hard, and fair play to them they are All Ireland champions and we have to suffer the consequences of losing another All Ireland.”

For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.