Galway ladies sweep to third title on the trot

Galway 1-16

Mayo    1-12

If Alan Mulholland and his Galway charges are looking for a template to work off ahead of their Connacht final showdown with Mayo, they could do worse than tap into that employed to good effect by their female counterparts in this stirring provincial ladies senior decider at McHale Park on Sunday.

A commanding display based on an insatiable work ethic, unquestionable commitment, clever play and scintillating pace, the Galway ladies footballers were deserved victors of the CBE Cup – the Tribeswomen’s third such title in as many years.

Indeed, given that Galway were dominant in so many sectors of the field – they remarkably enjoyed 61% of the possession over the hour – they really should have won by more and that will not be lost on the management team of Kevin Reidy, Dave Mullally and Martina Cummins as they prepare for the All-Ireland series.

In all, Galway created 35 scoring chances but finishing with 17 scores on the board meant that their scoring return was less than 50%. That’s a statistic that will have to improve for bigger games ahead, especially as they may find it difficult to create as many chances against the likes of Cork and Monaghan.

That should not take away from what was a very commanding performance. By half-time they led 1-8 to 1-5 after a flowing Galway move involving the excellent Barbara Hannon and Lorna Joyce set up Caitriona Cormican for a superb ninth minute goal.

With Hannon, Annette Clarke (two frees), Joyce and the sprightly Louise Ward kicking a plethora of quality points, the visitors led 1-5 to 0-1 by the 18^th minute and it looked as if they might just have this contest wrapped up by the break.

However, two things stood to Mayo over the 60 minutes and ensured they remained competitive. The first was that they were astute at securing possession from their own kick-outs and the second was that they had such an effective target woman in Cora Staunton in their attack.

In respect of the possession gained from the restarts, midfielder Claire Egan and wing-forward Kathryn Sullivan were two key figures for Mayo with each winning five.

Corner back Amy Bell was another option – although an alert Lucy Hannon robbed her of two – while captain Fiona McHale – although otherwise suffocated by player of the match Emer Flaherty, who pillaged three of Mayo’s restarts – and Cora Staunton (late on) also provided outlets.

Full report in this week’s Connacht Tribune.