Galway record All-Ireland Camogie Championship victory over Waterford
Aoife Donohue’s goal in the sixth minute ultimately separated the teams as Galway secured their first victory of the All-Ireland Camogie Championship, defeating Waterford 1-13 to 0-13. Cathal Murray’s side responded strongly after suffering a defeat to Cork in their previous outing.
Former All-Stars Niamh Mallon (Galway) and Niamh Rockett (Waterford) were each ruled out of the game at Azzurri Walsh Park, where Galway repeated theirDivision 1A Central League final win over the Déise in yet another tense, low-scoring battle.
Just three points were scored in the final quarter in a game where defences generally had the better of things, with Niamh Niland and Carrie Dolan landing scores in the last six minutes to give the All-Ireland champions their first win ofthe Summer.
Beth Carton (0-8, 0-5fs) and Niamh McPeake (0-5 from play) stepped up to the mark for their respective sides to carry a greater share of the scoring load inthe absence of Rockett and Mallon, though it did look in the early stages as if afree-scoring shootout might play out in the sunny south east.
Annie Fitzgerald opened the scoring from a tight angle for the home side in the second minute but on the next attack Shannon Corcoran did really well to get a pass away out of the tackle and set up Mairéad Dillon for the equalising score.
Galway struck a decisive blow through Aoife Donohue, who despite giving up a couple of inches in height to both Brianna O’Regan and Rachael Walsh, was able to jump up between the two and get a decisive flick on Dolan’s long free to score the game’s only goal after six minutes.
Two up at half-time, Galway doubled their lead when Ailish O’Reilly and McPeake both pointed in the first three minutes of the second half to make it 1-9 to 0-8, the latter assisted by a gorgeous first touch and pass from Caoimhe Kelly.
Some big defensive performances from Laoise Forrest, Keeley Corbett Barry and Vikki Falconer were crucial in shutting down the Galway attack for the next 20 minutes, restricting them to a mere two points in that time.
Four Beth Carton points and a pinpoint strike from Abby Flynn from the right- hand sideline set up a dramatic finale, one that featured Niland delivering the score of the game and arguably the match-winning point at the end of a 40-metre lung-busting run.
That means that the final semi-final spot is still up for grabs, with both these teams and Tipp in contention for the direct route, with the others headed for the quarters.