Cork fall just short against Galway in fiery All-Ireland camogie final at Croke Park
Shauna Healy of Galway is tackled by Laura Treacy of Cork. Picture: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
A penalty saved, a red card after 31 minutes, an equalising goal on 60 minutes and a free to finally vanquish the Rebels after 62 minutes.
Three-in-a-row chasing Cork battled to the bitter end before losing to Carrie Dolan's superb free after a gripping All-Ireland camogie final at Croke Park.
On a day when Cork showed huge heart playing with 14 for the entire second half after Hannan Looney's dismissal, they rallied from five down with nine minutes remaining, it wasn’t to be.
Galway also led by five points at the break and were full value for it after showing incredible hunger and aggression from the throw-in.
Katriona Mackey had a penalty effort saved after eight minutes by Sarah Healy after Amy O'Connor was fouled. Mairead Dillon’s goal 14 minutes in gave Galway the lead for the first time in the game after a close opening spell where the sides were level on three occasions.
With their confidence soaring, Galway outscored Cork 0-6 to 0-3 until the half-time whistle and their tackling around the middle third put the favourites under pressure carrying the sliotar up the field.
Aoife O'Donoghue signalled the intent with the first score and the rivals traded points, as Hannah Looney, Emma Murphy and Amy O'Connor (45) were on target for Cork with Carrie Dolan and O'Donoghue unerring for Galway.
Saoirse McCarthy had edged Cork into the lead with a free before a mistake saw Cork lose possession in the middle of the field to O'Donoghue, who set up Dillon to rattle the game’s opening goal.
Twice Galway had back-to-back points in between Cork efforts. Dolan converted two frees, Ailish O'Reilly struck twice from play and Caoimhe Kelly added another. Aishling Thompson twice scored from midfield along with an O'Connor free to keep Cork in touch.
Looney's red card, one minute into first-half added time, left Ger Manley's side with a mountain to climb.
To their credit, they set about their task with ferocity as Murphy, from play, and O'Connor, with a free cut, the deficit inside eight minutes of the restart but Galway, helped by the extra player, were finding space. Niamh Mallon split and Dolan (free) cancelled them out.
Only one of Cork's starting forwards had scored from play so they turned to their bench, which added energy as Galway went from being the hunter to the hunted.
Thompson, Saoirse McCarthy, Laura Treacy and Laura Hayes were to the fore as Cork began to force turnovers. Across the pitch, they showed the work-rate that was missing in the opening half.
McCarthy and Hayes, with a monster effort, cut the gap to a goal, only for O'Reilly and Dolan to push it back to five.
Cork refused to yield.
McCarthy nailed two more tricky frees before Thompson delivered a sublime pass to the hard-running Orlaith Cahalane in a rare pocket of space goal. She hammered the sliotar to the net at the near post as we headed into four minutes of injury time.
Momentum looked to have shifted, especially as Galway failed to turn good possession from their puck-out into a score. Cork stood firm as the clock on before Galway won a free out on the sideline. The angle was tight but Dolan sent it between the posts with conviction.
Cork went in search of another equaliser to force a replay. They had what looked like a legitimate call for a free ignored, as Clodagh Finn was sent to the ground. Galway cleared their lines and squeezed Cork into the corner under the Hogan Stand until the final whistle went on a day when Cork’s hearts were broken.
C Dolan 0-7 f, A O'Reilly 0-3, M Dillon 1-0, A O'Donoghue 0-2, N Mallon, C Kelly 0-1 each.
S McCarthy 0-4 f, O Cahalane 1-0, A O'Connor (0-2 f, 0-1 45), E Murphy, A Thompson 0-2 each, H Looney, L Hayes 0-1 each.
Sarah Healy; Shauna Healy, R Black, R Hanniffy; S Gardiner, C Hickey, D Higgins; AM Starr, O Rabbitte; N Mallon, A O’Reilly, A Donohue; C Kelly, C Dolan, M Dillon.
S Rabbitte for Kelly (40); J Hughes for O Rabbitte (53); E Helebert for Hickey (59, inj); A Hesnan for Dillon (61).
A Lee; L Coppinger, P Mackey, M Cahalane; A Healy, L Treacy, L Hayes; H Looney, A Thompson; E Murphy, A O’Connor, S McCarthy; K Mackey, S McCartan, O Cahalane.
C Finn for Mackey (37); O Mullins for McCartan (40); C Healy for O’Connor (48); M Murphy for A Healy (56); K Wall for E Murphy (59).
J Heffernan (Wexford).
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