Hennelly’s heroics help Galway to the semi-finals

by



[ad_1]

Two spectacular Rebecca Hennelly side disc conversions, valued at two points each, proved the difference as Liberty Insurance All-Ireland Senior Camogie champions Galway secured direct advancement to this year’s semi-finals as Group 1 winners, after defeating cork 0-15 to 0-12 at Pearse Stadium.

However, Cork manager Paudie Murray will have seen more than enough to be pleased as his team is now focused on taking on Group 3 runner-up Clare in the first of two quarter-finals at Páirc Uí Chaoimh (1:00 pm), which will be televised live on RTÉ on Saturday.

Elsewhere, Waterford secured a place in the round of 16 thanks to their 2-17-0-10 win over Westmeath at Cusack Park, Beth Carton delivers an amazing 1-14.

Fergal O’Brien’s players will now play Tipperary, the top of Group 3, with a throw-in at 2:45 pm.

Kilkenny, who counted Limerick comic 2-16-0-08 at UPMC Nowlan Park, they had already booked their last four spots as Group 2 winners.

Galway led by double scores in the interval, 0-10-0-05, but was disappointed very early by conceding a penalty with just one minute elapsed, awarded by a cut to forward Amy O’Connor. However, Chloe Sigerson couldn’t get enough of her attack and the ultra-reliable Sarah Healy made a clever save.

Sigerson hit from two frees and Orla Cronin another after Carrie Dolan scored for Galway, to give Cork an early lead, but after the water break, Galway began to get on top to neutralize the early threat from the division of internal attack of the Rebels.

They had achieved parity when Hennelly cut his first shot from the sideline from 40 meters down the left, and the Ardrahan star’s skill from discipline was certainly significant, as he repeated the trick from 46 meters to the right. Dolan and Orlaith McGrath were also on the mark to stretch the margin at halftime.

Cork cut him to two very quickly, Sigerson jumped on a free from inside his own half, Hannah Looney followed immediately after advancing from mid-back and Cronin aimed for another set ball.

Beth Carton in action for Waterford

However, Galway showed their expertise to provide the ideal answer, Dolan, Aoife Donohue and Ailish O’Reilly, with excellent solo scores, giving Cathal Murray’s team a vital breath.

Cork continued to fight hard and put him back down to three, but it was Hennelly’s heroics that proved final.

It was the Beth Carton Show at Mullingar, the prodigious shooter who added nine points, two per game, to Lorraine Bray’s first game to give Waterford a 0-10 to 0-03 interval lead.

Westmeath already made his mark on an inaugural Senior campaign with their first round win over Limerick and they showed all their courage and cunning to cut the margin to four, Pamela Greville raising her tally to six free in the 47th minute.

However, Carton turned off the danger with a goal two minutes later, and Niamh Rockett rocked the tackle in injury time to deliver the knockout blow.

Second-half goals from Aoife Doyle and Denise Gaule allowed Kilkenny to pull away from Limerick, who brought a lot of value but couldn’t match the firepower of the Noresiders, who also had Anne Dalton and Katie Nolan standing out.



[ad_2]