Donohue and O’Reilly do the damage for Galway

Galway 3-18

Dublin 1-12

JOB done! That summed up Galway’s opening assignment in the All-Ireland senior camogie championship last Saturday as Mark Dunne’s charges came from six behind to run out comfortable 12 point winners.

This performance wasn’t without fault and certainly wasn’t a championship winning effort, but after a 10-week break against a Metropolitan outfit beaming with confidence from a win over Clare seven days earlier, the Galway manager would be satisfied with his team’s response.

Two Aoife Donohue goals and a second half Rebecca Hennelly penalty allowed the Tribeswomen complete a turnaround after Faye McCarthy’s ninth minute free found the net. And a dangerous inside line of Donohue, Ailish O’Reilly and Noreen Coen caused problems when provided possession.

Galway had four changes from last year’s All-Ireland semi-final against Kilkenny including no starts for multi All-Star winners Sarah Dervan and Niamh McGrath. And the defence took time to gain control of their individual one-on-one match ups.

Indeed, the half back line of Lorraine Ryan, Hennelly and Heather Cooney had problems but when they did stamp their authority, any concerns among the travelling support were eased.

An Aisling Maher free on 51 seconds gave Dublin the opening score but within two minutes, two Galway attacks yielded two fouls and O’Reilly made it 0-2 to 0-1. On four minutes, Maher delivered the game’s first from play before Dublin’s keeper McCarthy made her presence felt.

After registering five points in their 3-11 to 1-14 win over the Banner, it was no surprise that the St. Jude’s netminder would be an influential figure on the tight Parnells GAA pitch and three long range placed balls put the hosts into a commanding lead.

The first and third raised white flags but the middle effort caught Galway off guard. New ‘keeper Sarah Healy and full back Shauna Healy were caught out  by the dropping sliothar whichdipped underneath the crossbar and Siobhan Kehoe’s point on 13 minutes gave Dublin a 1-5 to 0-2 advantage.

The two Healys’ partnership grew and developed brightly after the early stages as the defensive sextet adjusted to the pace of the game. The maroon and white were also struggling in attack but received a spark when Maria Cooney nailed an excellent shot for Galway’s first score from play.

It was the precursor for a change in fortunes. On 15 minutes, Ryan took possession and sent play towards Coen. The Athenry corner forward sent a diagonal delivery into the square where current All-Star Donohue read the break perfectly to breach the defence and her ground stroke secured the goal.

Another Donohue score left the deficit at 1-5 to 1-4 before Ali Twomey struck a skilful overhead point for Dubli.  Maher got her third on 22 minutes but not before a route-one point for Galway as Coen took Sarah Healy’s long free.  When Niamh Kilkenny was brought down seven minutes from the break, O’Reilly left the arrears 1-7 to 1-6 before Galway finally took control.

Full coverage in this week’s Connacht Tribune.