In the All-Ireland Senior Camogie Final, Cork edged out Galway, 1-16 to 0-16. Cork’s substitute players significantly contributed to the victory, assisting the team in navigating a resurgence from Galway in the second half. This became Cork’s thirtieth All-Ireland senior camogie championship win – a new record.
Galway carried out a commendable fightback from a six-point lag to level the scores with nine minutes of ordinary playing time left. The game at Croke Park, watched by a crowd of 27,811, delivered high levels of excitement.
Yet, in the concluding part of the match, Galway was unable to add to their points tally, whilst Cork registered three game-deciding points. Two of these were scored by substitute player Sorcha McCartan, and Clodagh Finn contributed the third. These crucial interventions helped Cork in maintaining possession of the O’Duffy Cup whilst putting them ahead of Dublin, who have 26 titles, on the prestigious honour roll.
Despite starting the match as the expected winners, Cork was seriously challenged by Galway’s spirited display of ability and conviction, which gave them a slim 0-10 to 0-9 lead by the break.
However, Cork countered swiftly in the second half, scoring 1-4 within the first 41 minutes to attain a six-point lead. Galway stood firm and levelled the game, leading to a nail-biting finish. Ultimately, however, their struggle was in vain as they hit three wide shots, and Cork’s superior bench strength created the deciding points.
Following a close call in the 54th minute when McCartan pushed Cork back into the lead, Finn extended it soon after. As the match neared its conclusion, the Cork defence held off Galway’s relentless push for a deciding goal, which never materialised.
Galway’s players were visibly disappointed at the final hooter. They thought they had it, but Cork prevailed. Galway did make tactical changes from the beginning, shifting midfielder Niamh Hanniffy to the full-forward line and repositioning number five, Annmarie Starr, to midfield.
Niamh Mallon, a full forward, pushed further down the field to the half-forward line while Aoife Donohue took on a more freely moving role, which left Laura Treacy of Cork in the centre back position as a sweeper in their defence’s core.
Cork initially gained momentum with points from Katrina Mackey and Saoirse McCarthy, providing them with an early lead as the game started as anticipated by many. However, Galway refused to be left behind and levelled the score in the seventh minute with the help of two free hits by Carrie Dolan. This set the precedent for the rest of the first half with both teams matching each other point for point, ending up level on eight occasions.
Galway’s performance in front of the goalpost was impeccable in the first half, not missing once, while Cork wasn’t too far behind, only registering a single miss in the first half. By the 27th minute, each of Cork’s forwards had scored, but Dolan’s proficiency from free hits, and an outstanding score just before half time, gave Galway a narrow lead at the break, 0-10 to 0-9.
Despite their faultless performance in the first half, Galway suffered three misses in the first five minutes after the game resumed. On the flip side, Cork sprung into action and scored 1-4 without any opposition in just 11 minutes, taking the lead at 1-13 to 0-10. Galway could dispute Mackey’s goal as it appeared she didn’t touch the sliotar as it left her hand.
Nonetheless, Galway recovered from their sluggish start to the second half and were on par with Cork within ten minutes. They once again posed a challenge, but ultimately, it was Cork who emerged victorious.
In a recent match, the Cork team consisted of Amy Lee, Meabh Murphy, Izzy O’Regan, Pamela Mackey, Hannah Looney, Laura Treacy, Laura Hayes, Ashling Thompson who scored 0-1, and Aoife Healy. The forwards included Cliona Healy with a score of 0-1, Fiona Keating also scoring 0-1, Saoirse McCarthy with three points (one being a free kick), Amy O’Connor who scored three frees, Katrina Mackey getting 1-2, and Orlaith Cahalane with two points to her name. The substitutes brought on were Sorcha McCartan, Ciara O’Sullivan, Meabh Cahalane, Clodagh Finn who scored 0-1, and Emma Murphy.
Galway’s line up featured Sarah Healy, Rachael Hanniffy, Róisín Black, Dervla Higgins, Olwen Rabbitte, Áine Keane, and Ciara Hickey who scored 0-1. The midfielders were Annmarie Starr and Niamh Kilkenny. The forwards comprised Niamh Mallon who scored 0-1, Niamh McPeake, Ailish O’Reilly with a score of 0-2, Carrie Dolan who had seven frees and scored 0-8, Niamh Hanniffy, and Aoife Donohue who bagged herself four points. As per the game, the bench strength had Orlaith McGrath, Niamh Niland, and Ally Hesnan. The match was overseen by referee Liz Dempsey from Kilkenny.