Early-season warning for struggling Galway seniors

Cork 0-13

Galway 1-3

GALWAY’S senior camogie team were handed a firm lesson last Sunday in their National League opener. Despite a strong start, highlighted by an Ailish O’Reilly sixth minute goal, Tony O’Donovan’s charges struggled against a Cork outfit that took a firm hold of proceedings in the second quarter.

What should deeply concern Galway was the fact it took 48 minutes to register a point from play and they found it difficult to penetrate Cork’s rearguard when the hosts started going deep and cutting out the space to the opposition attack.

But being just the second Sunday in January, this could result in a perfect work out for the squad ahead of the summer. This was a disappointing performance but league action is about taking lessons from every assignment before pushing for honours in the knock-out stages.

Galway were without the Sarsfields and Athenry players (including Tara Kenny, Niamh and Orlaith McGrath, and Noreen Coen) while Niamh Kilkenny was injured. But having only come together in the weeks before Christmas, they took the game to Cork in the opening exchanges.

Cork were also missing key names like Aoife Murray, Gemma O’Connor, Rena Buckley and Katrina Mackey but they were bolstered by their 2017 intermediates who only lost the All-Ireland final after a replay.

Niamh Hanniffy was Galway’s stand-out performer including three superb catches that led to three goal chances in the first six minutes. And this was after Rebecca Hennelly opened the scoring with a long range free after Ann Marie Starr was fouled.

Full report in this week’s Connacht Tribune