Carrie Dolan continues to lead by example for Galway camogie side
GALWAY team captain Carrie Dolan was delighted to come through their semi-final clash with Kilkenny at Semple Stadium on a day when the Tribeswomen displayed impressive quality and were full value for their win.
The Galway midfielder was at the heart of the action, withher converted penalty early inthe second half putting the Tribeswomen firmly in the driving seat enroute to a six point victory.
‘‘We’ve been waiting for four weeks for this game,’’ she said. ‘‘Kilkenny are always tough opponents. We went against the breeze in the first half, and we probably did well to go in two points up at half time. The goal probably gave us a bit of a cushion then, but it’s great to win here today.’’
Dolan praised her teammate Caoimhe Kelly for her part in setting the captain up during the move which led to the Galway penalty. Kelly’s vision and delivery put Dolan into the danger zone, where she drew a foul from Kilkenny’s Laura Greene.
‘‘Caoimhe is such a selfless player. You know from playing with her in training that if you make those runs that she’s going to get the ball to you and she gave me a great ball there. I probably could have stuck the hurl up and taken it, but I just got fouled then and I was delighted to get the goal [from the penalty].’’
Like her manager, Dolan was hoping that the injuries picked up by Galway players on Saturday would clear up in time for the All-Ireland Final.
‘‘We have two weeks to get them right. The way the game is gone now, you nearly always pick up a few of them [injuries] in most games. It’s very physical and we’re all covering a lot of ground now, which is how players want it. But hopefully the girls will get them sorted in the next few weeks.’’
All-Ireland semi-finals are always hard won, and Dolan was very satisfied with her teammates’ performance on Saturday evening. The Clarinbridge star was looking forward to getting back to training this week and beginning preparations foranother title decider against Cork.
‘‘It’s a good result today and we’ll enjoy this one. At the end of the day, we are where every player wants to be. We’re going up to Croke Park now on August 9, and we’ll start getting focused on that next week,’’ added the Galway captain.