Lucky goal for Cats is enough to end Galway winning streak

Kilkenny 1-13

Galway 0-14

Eanna O’Reilly at Kenny Park

THE Galway senior camogie team suffered their first defeat of 2019 in their group 1 championship opener against a strong Kilkenny outfit on Saturday. The Cats arrived in Athenry determined to make up for their league final defeat in March and shaded a close encounter with the home side.

It was a disappointing result for the Galway but on the day, Kilkenny were slightly the better team and deserved to take the spoils. Ann Downey’s side produced more quality as reflected in their greater spread of scorers and scores taken from play.

The Kilkenny defence also performed strongly and restricted the Galway attack effectively for much of the game. Nevertheless, it was a game Galway could have drawn at the death, with the Cats very relieved to see Sarah Healy’s late free go inches over the crossbar. As expected, the game was in the balance right down to the last puck.

Playing against the wind in the first half, Kilkenny opened their account after 15 seconds with Anne Dalton firing over a point. Miriam Walsh added another point after an excellent pass from Denise Gaule, as the Cats set the pace early on.

Galway’s first meaningful attack saw Niamh Hanniffy make a strong run through the Kilkenny defence before passing inside to Ailish O’Reilly, whose shot was well saved by Emma Kavanagh. Carrie Dolan converted the resulting 45 to open Galway’s account, but Kilkenny responded with Dalton’s second point, a terrific score from distance.

Dolan converted an impressive 70 yard free soon after, but the Galway forwards were finding it difficult to open up a strong Kilkenny defence, where Catherine Foley, Claire Phelan and Kelly Ann Doyle were particularly impressive. The Cats were also dominant in the middle third with Gaule and Davina Tobin winning the majority of possession, while they also looked more fluent in attack.

Michelle Quilty and Katie Power added some good points for the visitors either side of another Dolan free for Galway. The Clarinbridge forward kept Galway in touch with her dead ball accuracy and added her fourth on 21 minutes. Anne Dalton’s scoring exhibition continued as she fired over another long-range point to extend Kilkenny’s lead.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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