Cork 0-21
Galway 0-10
DARAGH Ó CONCHÚIR REPORTS
THEY came, they saw and they conquered – there was just no stopping Cork as they surged to their 17th Very Camogie League Division 1A title and a first since 2013.
The back-to-back All-Ireland champions blew a shell-shocked Galway away at Semple Stadium to prove they are the team to beat.
All bar three players on the Cork squad had not won a league medal in an otherwise impressive collection. A few of them had lost five finals. It wasn’t keeping them awake at night, you suspect, but when there’s a scratch, you want to itch it. Consider it itched.
Libby Coppinger, Saoirse McCarthy, Hannah Looney, Laura Treacy and Amy O’Connor celebrate Cork's win.
‘We set our stall to go after the league,’ said Cork boss Ger Manley.
‘When we saw the draw, we had a couple of games at home and I think it fell for us.
‘I’ve been saying it all along we have a strong squad. I thought we were very good today, one of the best performances since I’ve been involved in the couple of years (as manager). You can see the composure and the concentration, everything is right.
‘I know I changed it up a bit today but there are some brilliant players there. The example is the three girls that played the football league final in Croke Park yesterday – Libby Coppinger, Hannah Looney and Aoife Healy – and how good they were. And I’m not going to stop them from playing.
‘Libby is like a new player back to us from last year (when she suffered an ACL injury).’
Cork's Ava Fitzgerald celebrates with Millie Condon.
The dual players all excelled, and ended a weekend that had begun in defeat, in far brighter fashion.
Manley’s reference to the squad was in light of having to make two late changes, player of the year Laura Hayes not being risked and Katrina Mackey pulling up in the warm-up. Emma Murphy came in for Hayes and shot three points, while none other than Amy O’Connor got the nod in Mackey’s stead, contributed four points, and had a hand in a few more.
Clodagh Finn, who scored a peach of a point as a sub as Cork edged out Galway in last year’s All-Ireland final, carried on her good form through the campaign with two points and was always a threat. Saoirse McCarthy, hit four points and was akin to a Rolls Royce at times and Sorcha McCartan also contributed heavily, with three and offering an aerial outlet all the time. Defensively they were in complete control, Laura Treacy, Libby Coppinger and Pamela Mackey exuding authority.
Ashling Thompson was one of the trio of survivors from Cork’s last league triumph, along with Katrina and Pamela Mackey. The latter excelled, embarking on a lightning fast 40-metre run to set up an early point for Murphy.
The Mackeys were 34 in March. Thompson was 35 the same month. The Milford powerhouse earned player-of-the-match honours and nobody demurred. She was magnificent, scoring three points, winning mountains of possession and found teammates with clever distribution. Is it possible she is getting better? Amy Lee thinks so.
Cork's Orlaith Cahalane on the attack against Galway.
‘Honestly, the last couple of years is the best I’ve seen her ever,’ said the Cork goalkeeper. ‘She’s just so fit, physical, her hurling is still top notch. She knows how to mind herself, she knows when she can go full pelt. She’s an excellent athlete and her knowledge of the game is unbelievable and it’s really helping us.
‘When she came back (from her cruciate ligament injury) a couple of years ago, I was watching her doing the runs and she was fitter than I’d ever seen her. And it’s worked well for her and we’re benefiting.’
Scores from Finn, Murphy and Thompson had Cork four points in front when Amy Lee was called upon to make a fantastic save from an Ailish O’Reilly ground shot in the 24th minute.
Lee made a big save when Galway were still in content, coming out quick and saving a ground shot from Ailish O’Reilly in the 24th minute.
‘In a situation like that, one of two things is going to happen,’ Lee explained with her customary grin. ‘She’s going to pick the ball or she’s going to pull on it. The minute I thought she was going to pull on it, I just slid out on my knees, just to make sure there was no base. It only clipped the heel of my foot.
‘You see in the second half, Aoife Donohue did the opposite, she went to pick it running into me. Sometimes it’s the luck of the draw. You do the percentages in your head as it’s playing out and then try to pick the right one.’
Cork captain Meabh Cahalane lifts the cup.
The former Cork captain, described by current skipper, Méabh Cahalane in the match programme as the mammy of the team, revealed that while Cork had rested a few big guns in the final round game against Galway at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, when the Rebels were already qualified and the visitors need the victory to make the final, getting turned over clearly didn’t sit well with them.
‘It’s good to get silverware always. You go out at the start of the year and your aim is to win everything. It doesn’t always go that way, and the main prize at the end of the day is the O’Duffy Cup but it’s nice to get that bit of silverware again.
‘We won’t get ahead of ourselves, we’re back in the Munster championship again next week. We’ll go back, review, see what we can work on and have a good couple of weeks of solid training again.
‘We had goals going out from the game in Páirc Uí Chaoimh against Galway. We said if we could go out and hit them, we’d give the league a good rattle and to be fair it worked. Everyone knew their job and they did their job and it worked out well for us today.’
Scorers
Cork: S McCarthy (1f), A O’Connor (2fs) 0-4 each; E Murphy, A Thompson, S McCartan 0-3 each; C Finn 0-2; H Looney, M Condon 0-1 each.
Galway: C Dolan 0-6 (5f); S Rabbitte, N Niland, Sarah Healy (f) 0-1 each.
Cork: A Lee, P Mackey, L Coppinger, M Murphy, M Cahalane, L Treacy, A Healy, A Thompson, H Looney, A O’Connor, S McCarthy, S McCartan, C Finn, E Murphy, O Cahalane.
Subs: C Healy for Finn (45), A Fitzgerald for Looney (51), K Wall for Murphy (56), R Harty for A Healy (57), M Condon for O’Connor (60+1), O Mullins for O Cahalane (60+3).
Galway: Sarah Healy, Shauna Healy, D Higgins, R Hanniffy, E Helebert, O Rabbitte, C Hickey, A Starr, M Dillon, Á Keane, C Dolan, N Mallon, A Donohue, A O’Reilly, C Kelly. Subs: A Hesnan for Starr (39), R Black for Helebert (39), S Rabbitte for C Kelly (39), A Kelly for O’Reilly (49), N Niland for Mallon (49), S Gardiner for Donohue (52), A Lynskey for Dillon (58).
Referee: Gavin Donegan (Dublin).
