Galway ladies pay price for taking so long to find their stride

Cork 1-12

Galway 1-10

GALWAY won the second half of this All-Ireland ladies football quarter-final 1-8 to 0-6, but it wasn’t enough to down Cork, who will continue their quest for an amazing 10th All-Ireland triumph in 11 years with a semi-final meeting against Munster rivals Kerry.

A goal from captain Geraldine Conneally inspired the Galway fightback three minutes into the second period, but the truth most of the damage had been done by an impressive first half display from Cork.

Many observers would had viewed the winner of this contest as favourites to go and claim All-Ireland silverware, and while there was never anything much to separate the two teams when they played out two exciting National League finals in May, Cork were by far the better side in the first 30 minutes at the Gaelic Grounds. 1-6 to 0-2 ahead at the break, the scoreline didn’t flatter Cork as they picked off Galway with swift counter attacks.

Ciara O’Sullivan, Vera Foley, Briege Corkery and Aisling Hutchings made hay running from deep, and Galway were thankful to defenders Emer Flaherty, Áine Seoighe and Mairéad Coyne for keeping them in the contest at times. Seoighe made an important block on an Aisling Hutchings’ shot after 14 minutes, but it was perhaps Flaherty who was Galway’s best player all evening.

She made a number of defensive interceptions in the first period, and held Valerie Mulcahy to just one point from play before the star Cork attacker was replaced with 20 minutes of the contest remaining.

A sign of the difference between the sides was the impact the Cork subs made. Eimear Scally led the Cork minors to victory over Galway on the Bank Holiday Monday, and she stood once again when replacing Mulcahy. Doireann O’Sullivan, younger sister to captain Ciara, also made a difference coming off the bench.

One sub Galway used was Annette Clarke, but the long-serving midfielder’s injury troubles meant she couldn’t have her normal influence on affairs when she was introduced. In all, manager Kevin Reidy made four changes to the starting 15 that defeated Mayo in the Connacht final. Gleeson came in for Clarke, with Aoibheann Daly replacing Caitriona Cormican in the forwards, Sarah Gormally starting in place of Barbara Hannon in defence, and Tina Hughes in goal ahead of Johanna Connolly.

With just 23 seconds on the clock in this contest, Hughes was beaten by Ciara O’Sullivan. Mulcahy spotted O’Sullivan running beyond Daly, and picked her out with a fine pass, allowing O’Sullivan to do the rest. It was the perfect start for Cork, and although Gleeson replied immediately with an individual effort from play, O’Sullivan’s goal set the tone.

Full match report in this week’s Connacht Tribune.