Galway camogie manager Cathal Murray warns his side need to improve
GALWAY senior camogie manager Cathal Murray was satisfied after his side booked their place in the All-Ireland final next month, following an impressive semi-final win over Kilkenny last Saturday evening in Thurles.
Given the relative lack of competitive fixtures under their belt this year, Murray was very pleased that his players didn’t show any signs of being undercooked on the day.
‘‘We had only played three matches coming into today,’’ he said. ‘‘Kilkenny had six and a half played and they looked like a really excellent team. We just concentrated on the first ten minutes and getting a good start today.
‘‘I thought it was an unbelievable performance from the girls out there. The amount of blocks, hooks, and tackles and the young players really stood up for us today. Look at the amount of young players we had on the pitch in the last ten minutes, and I thought they were heroic. That’s the biggest thing I’ve taken from it to be honest, and we’re all just delighted to be back in the final.’’
Murray praised the team captain Carrie Dolan for converting a crucial penalty early in the second half, while he felt that the team’s forward play was top class, particularly in that second period.
‘‘You wouldn’t want anyone else taking that penalty to be honest, and she (Dolan) took it really well. But I thought there was some great interplay from the forwards to be honest. We might have struggled a bit to hold up the ball in the first half. But the quality of our deliveries certainly improved in the second half.’’
The Galway boss has always emphasised the importance of a full panel effort and the strength of the bench in big championship matches. He underlined this with the example of Alannah Kelly, whose point in the final play of the game was the cherry on top of Galway’s victory.
‘‘The best part of the day for me was Alannah’s point at the end; it was a brilliant score. I’m delighted for her, because she trains incredibly hard and probably hasn’t gotten the minutes [during matches] for the last while. All the subs gave us a huge impact, and you’d just have to be very proud of the effort from everyone today.’’
With a few players picking up injuries during their win over Kilkenny, the Galway medical team will have a busy fortnight, and Murray is hoping that the injuries which occurred on Saturday will all be manageable with the All-Ireland Final in mind.
‘‘We are under pressure with injuries to be honest. Obviously, Jenny (Hughes) and Niamh (Mallon) were out today and couldn’t start. Aoife (Donohue) picked up a knee injury and that’s going to have to be looked at now. Sabina (Rabbitte)’s injury doesn’t look too good. She got a nasty enough injury on the thumb.’’
‘‘Dervla (Higgins) picked up a knock in the first half, and she had to come off later as well. So, look, we’ll just have to get those [injuries] assessed and hopefully we’ll have everyone on board for the final in two weeks.’’
Despite the emphatic nature of Galway’s victory on the day, Murray was keen to stress that the Tribeswomen still have plenty of work ahead of them in their quest to secure the O’Duffy Cup for the second consecutive year. The Galway manager is fully aware that Cork will be gunning for revenge for their All-Ireland Final defeat to the Tribeswomen last season.
‘‘We know Cork won’t be frightened of us in any shape or form. We know we still have a huge amount to work on. But we’re delighted to be back in the final. The next two weeks will be huge for us, but its great to be looking forward to it [final] now,’’ he concluded.