Green flags for Hennelly and Cooney as Galway carry day

Galway 2-11

Clare 0-11

GALWAY’S senior camogie team responded last Saturday to their previous loss to Kilkenny by booking their place in the All-Ireland senior quarter-finals, with goals from Rebecca Hennelly and Maria Cooney proving the difference.

This wasn’t a vintage display. Referee Liz Dempsey made momentum difficult to achieve with nearly 40 frees over the 60 minutes, but it was a performance defined by work rate and desire. It wasn’t a championship winning effort, but it was a major step in the right direction.

Even though Clare were still in the tie entering the final 12 minutes, the Tribeswomen never looked like losing. Mark Dunne’s charges finished both halves strongly. And even if there was an element of luck regarding the second goal, they created enough chances to justify their winning margin.

Confidence was low following the previous encounter with the All-Ireland champions as they faced a Munster outfit buoyed by their draw in Nowlan Park. Also, Clare needed to win creating a cup final atmosphere while Galway weren’t safely clear of the exit door should results have worked against them.

Clare set the tone early with Chloe Morey converting two frees. The home crowd sensed a big display in the Banner’s most important game since their 2014 championship quarter-final loss after extra-time to the same opposition.

Galway needed to be patient. They abandoned the short ball but found Clare’s half backs were willingly taking back possession and landing the returns. Some chances were missed but Galway opened their account on six minutes with Ailish O’Reilly converting before Morey restored the two-point margin.

But the feeling of excitement had subdued significantly as the constant whistling sucked the atmosphere out of Ennis. Dempsey is an accomplished official and one of the best, but she didn’t allow both sides freedom to settle.

However, Galway profited twice by the 13th minute as O’Reilly and Hennelly nailed placed balls to level affairs. Morey had Clare back ahead on the quarter hour before O’Reilly restored parity three minutes later.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.