Galway camogie side left with big regrets after final loss to the Rebels

Galway lined out with Ciara Hickey taking up a sweeper role; a tactic which was hugely successful in last year’s All-Ireland Final. Niamh Mallon started in her first game since Galway’s opening round loss to Cork, when she suffered a shoulder injury, and the Down native took up position in the middle of the field, picking up Cork’s influential midfielder Laura Hayes.

Galway captain Carrie Dolan faced off against Cork veteran Ashling Thompson, while Cork centre back Méabh Murphy filled the loose defender role. The Rebels’ high scoring full forward line of Amy O’Connor, Sorcha McCartan, and Orlaith Cahalane were marked by Galway’s Rachael Hanniffy, Róisín Black, and Katie Manning respectively.

Niamh Niland and Caoimhe Kelly stretched the play in Galway’s attack, and the Tribeswomen looked to send most of their deliveries into the corners, where Niland and Kelly caused major problems for the experienced Libby Coppinger and Méabh Cahalane.

Galway had the Leesiders on the back foot early in the first half but didn’t make their superiority count on the scoreboard. The Tribeswomen’s first five shots on goal resulted in just one score, which was a poor outcome as the opportunity of building an early lead with the aid of the wind was spurned.

Cathal Murray’s charges were the certainly the superior side in the opening half, as reflected in their scoring tallying of 0-8 from play, compared to Cork’s 0-2. However, A two point half time lead did not reflect Galway’s dominance in general play, and they wouldn’t have been flattered to lead by five or six at the break.

The concession of five scorable frees helped keep Cork in the game during the first half. One of those was a particularly poor call from referee Gavin Donegan against Katie Manning for a tackle on Orlaith Cahalane, which saw the Cork forward go down under minimal contact.

At the other end, Aoife Donohue must have been wondering what she had to do to receive a free at times during the game. The first half free count saw Donegan awarded eight to Cork, while Galway had to make do with four.

Cork were calling for a red card for Dolan’s first half challenge on Millie Condon. However, replays showed that the Galway captain did not raise her shoulder or elbow, and did not actually move towards the Cork player but in fact stood her ground.

Galway’s tactic of giving Cork possession from their short puck outs and trying to make tackles thereafter was not particularly effective. Eight of Cork’s 11 first half puck outs went short and allowed the Leesiders to retain possession and build from the back, which is one of their strengths as a team.

This possession ultimately went a long way to keeping Cork in the game during a first half in which they were largely outplayed. By contrast, Galway only managed to retain possession from four of Sarah Healy’s 11 first half puckouts.

Nevertheless, the Tribeswomen dominated the play and created more scoring opportunities than their opponents in the opening half. Galway were undermined however, by their shooting efficiency, and a 64% accuracy rate was well below what the standard the they would set for themselves in a big championship game.

Niamh Mallon’s loss in the 16th minute to a recurrence of her shoulder injury was a huge blow to Galway. It was no coincidence that Hayes was more prominent for Cork after Mallon’s early departure and had more opportunities to join the attack without having to keep tabs on Mallon, whose scoring threat would have forced Hayes back towards her own posts

The Leesiders outscored Galway by 2-4 to 0-3 in the third quarter during their best spell. However, the loss of Ciara Hickey, who was arguably Galway’s most influential performer prior to her injury, was an absolute hammer blow.

Some of Donegan’s calls during this period were also very questionable. Blatant fouls on Donohue and Jennifer Hughes were not called by the Dublin referee. He also chose not to intervene or refer to Hawkeye, when it appeared that Dolan’s 37th free may have swung inside the right hand upright.

A free awarded against Hughes for pulling her own hurl out of McCartan’s grip, when the Cork player was inhibiting her from the play, was a ridiculous call.Equally, a foul called against Niamh McPeake on the Cusack Stand side, which was converted by O’Connor, was extremely soft.

The Sunday Game evening show analysts referred to the possibility of black cards being introduced in camogie, which in the aftermath of Sunday’s final, is something which seems to have a legitimate case. There is certainly a necessity for the introduction of more severe repercussions for committing cynical fouls and denying goal scoring opportunities in particular.

During the final quarter of last Sunday’s game, Cork players picked up four yellow cards for cynical fouls. The last of these, which came after Laura Hayes brought down Rachael Hanniffy, clearly denied a goal scoring opportunity for the Tribeswomen.

Had Hanniffy not been dragged down, she had two passing options, either to Caoimhe Kelly or Shannon Corcoran, both of which would have left a three on two in Galway’s favour approaching the Cork goal. During the same play, Dolan was visibly dragged to the ground by Cork’s Libby Coppinger in the square, which wasn’t spotted by Donegan.

Cork’s approach to stopping Galway may have been cynical, but there is nothing under the current rules to allow the referee to take more severe action, such as awarding a penalty for the denial of a goal scoring opportunity, as is the case in hurling.

Sarah Healy’s 30 yard effort always had a very slim chance of finding the net, even if the St. Thomas’ custodian had kept the ball on target. The lack of repercussions for deliberate fouling is something which surely requires further consideration by the camogie authorities going forward.