In the opening round of the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland senior camogie championship, Tipperary triumphed over 2023 All-Ireland finalists, Waterford. The league champions began their summer crusade boldly, securing a 1-19 to 2-13 victory in the Munster clash at The Ragg.
The game remained evenly poised throughout, with Waterford leading 1-7 to 1-5 at halftime. With commendable efforts from Mairead O’Brien, who scored a goal, and Beth Carton, who racked up a remarkable five points, Waterford looked formidable. Supplementary contributions from Lorraine Bray and Sarah Lacey kept Waterford in the lead. However, Tipperary, who scored through Clodagh McIntyre, redoubled their efforts, putting immense pressure on Waterford when O’Brien added her second goal.
Mary Burke’s efforts almost saw her netting a goal for Tipp but she settled for a point, taking the score to 1-11 to 2-11. A red card for Keeley Corbett Barry of Waterford, with less than 10 minutes remaining, set the stage for Tipperary’s comeback. Following this, Tipperary dominated the game, scoring five out of the next six points, steering the match in their favour.
Páirc Uí Rinn was the setting for Cork’s first defense of their All-Ireland title against Wexford. Despite the sweeping rainfall, Katrina Mackey and Amy O’Connor exhibited solid performances, leading Cork to win 1-15 to 1-6 victory.
The match started with O’Connor’s dead ball in the first minute and was followed by more goals from O’Connor, Mackey and Saoirse McCarthy. Wexford opened their count with a goal from Shelley Kehoe. However, Cork continued to dominate, ending the first half 0-8 to 0-2 up.
As the second half began, Wexford’s Ciara O’Connor converted a penalty, boosting their morale. Nonetheless, Cork maintained a certain authority throughout the match. Clodagh Finn’s goal in the seventh minute of extra time confirmed Cork’s victory.
Kilkenny managed a comfortable victory over Limerick, concluding the game with a score of 1-19 to 0-4 at Mick Neville Park in Rathkeale. Following an initial score by Aoife Doyle, Kilkenny took a lead of 0-6 to 0-0 within the first 25 minutes, gaining scores through Miriam Bambrick, Aoife Prendergast, Katie Nolan, Miriam Walsh, and Julianne Malone. Limerick got off their mark with Caoimhe Costelloe’s score 30 minutes in, proceeded by another two minutes later. However, these were cushioned by Doyle’s double score for Kilkenny. Kilkenny continued their momentum into the second half, with Steffi Fitzgerald’s goal pushing the score to 1-13 to 0-3.
Clare faced Down in Ennis, where initially, Down took a four-point lead within the first 22 minutes, which included a goal from Ciara Fitzsimmons. However, Clare’s Áine O’Loughlin managed to secure a goal, bringing the score to 1-6 to 1-4 in their favour. Subsequent to the restart in Ennis, Clare dominated the second half. They ran out as victors with a score of 1-14 to 1-5, shutting Down down to a single second half point. Amongst Clare’s lineup, Róisín Begley shone with a hat-trick of points, succeeded by scores from Laura Foley, Zi Yan Spillane, and Caoimhe Carmody.
Lastly, Derry held their ground against Antrim on Saturday at Cushendall to claim a significant victory with a score of 3-17 to 2-10, maintaining a double figure lead since half-time. Amongst the Derry’s team, Aoife Shaw had a notable performance, kick-starting Derry’s day with a score of 1-1. This was followed by scores from Antrim’s Róisín McCormick and Maeve Kelly.
Shaw succeeded in scoring a secondary goal for Derry before Dervla Cosgrove retaliated with a goal for Antrim at the 50-minute juncture, setting the score at 2-14 to 1-7. Derry continued to exert a solid performance while Antrim saw a resurgence with the next successful green flag shot made by McCormick.
Aimee Lennon delivered a further blow to Antrim’s hopes by scoring another goal for the guest team. Siobhán McKillop succeeded in making the day’s final point, but Derry had already secured their win by then.
At Parnell Park, Galway managed to clinch the desired result, although not in the expected manner, as they narrowly beat Dublin by 0-17 to 1-11. The match was even at 0-11 to 1-8 during the half-time, but Galway surged post the interval.
Niamh McPeake gave Galway the initial points but it was a close contest where Galway were leading 0-8 to 0-7 at the 20 minute mark until an Aisling O’Neill’s goal put the Dubs ahead by two points.
In the Tribe’s team, Niamh Mallon and Carrie Dolan showed acuity from dead balls while Ashling Maher and O’Neill played critical roles in maintaining Dublin’s points count. In the last five minutes, Niamh Niland added further points to Galway’s credit to provide them with a bit more space to breathe in the last minutes.