Cork beaten by Galway but avoid relegation in camogie league 

Galway 0-18 Cork 1-9

Another defeat for Cork as they lost out to Galway in their Centra Division 1A clash at Kenny Park, Athenry, on Saturday.

The result meant that Cork were then looking to the result of other games, in particular the Kilkenny-Antrim one, to retain their status in the top flight. Thanks to the Cats' win, it meant that Antrim, not Cork, were relegated with the Rebels knowing they have a lot of work to do before the Munster championship in a few weeks.

Carrie Dolan put Galway in front in the second minute from a free before she nearly had a goal. A ball in from her dropped short, but at the crucial moment Amy Lee slipped but the Cork keeper recovered to clear the danger.

Dolan added a second to increase the home side’s lead to make it 0-2 to no score after four minutes. Another free from Dolan put Galway further in front as they were enjoying the better of the opening exchanges.

Sorcha McCartan got Cork off the mark from a free eight minutes in, with Niamh Mallon replying at the other end from the restart, to make it 0-4 to 0-1.

Orlaith Cahalane added a second for Cork as she was starting to cause the Galway defence problems.

A great ball from Laura Hayes found Saoirse McCarthy and she took on the Galway defence, but her effort on goal was superbly saved by Sarah Healy. McCartan picked up the breaking ball to score Cork’s third point.

Mairead Dillon pushed Galway further ahead when she made it 0-5 to 0-3 with 12 minutes gone. But Cork hit back to level it, with McCarthy getting their fourth and Cahalane on target again to make it 0-5 each after 17 minutes.

Another Dolan free put Galway back in front as they kept the scoreboard ticking over. Two from Niamh McPeake stretched Galway’s lead further as they led by 0-8 to 0-5 after 25 minutes.

Another Dolan free made it a four-point game, with three minutes to go to half-time.

Aoibheann Barry put five between the sides before they had another goal chance. A cross-field ball was picked up by Aoife Donohue but Lee saved well to deny her a goal. Aoibheann Barry added a point late on for Galway to see the Tribeswomen leading by 0-11 to 0-5.

Dolan got the first score of the second half, with Niamh McNabola, on as a sub, getting Cork’s first score after the break. Orlaith Cremin got their second, to make it 0-12 to 0-7 after 40 minutes.

McCarthy got her second from a free, with McPeake replying at the other end to keep Galway five to the good, 0-13 to 0-8. Scores were far between in the second half and it took until the 50th minute for the next to arrive, with Mallon scoring for Galway.

Donohue and McPeake added two more as the home side were well ahead at this stage and Cork were looking to the results of other games to see if they would stay in the top division. McCarthy pulled a point back for Cork, with N Niland replying for Galway, as they led by 0-17 to 0-9 heading into injury time.

A free from McCartan led to a goalmouth scramble with Cahalane finding the back of the net to make it 1-9 to 0-17. Caoimhe Kelly rounded off the scoring to see Galway run out deserving winners on the day.

Scorers for Galway: C Dolan 0-6 (0-5 f), N McPeake 0-4, N Mallon, A Barry 0-2 each, M Dillon, A Donohue, N Niland, C Kelly 0-1 each.

Cork: O Cahalane 1-2, S McCarthy 0-3 (0-1 45, 0-1 f), S McCartan 0-2 (0-1 f), N McNabola, O Cremin 0-1 each.

GALWAY: S Healy; R Hanniffy, R Black, D Higgins; K Manning, C Hickey, KA Porter; J Hughes, C Dolan; N Mallon, N McPeake, A Donohue; S Corcoran, M Dillon, A Barry.

Subs: A Lynskey for Barry (48), N Niland for M Dillon (49), C Kelly for A Barry, R Kelly for KA Porter (both 56), A Kelly for J Hughes (58).

CORK: A Lee; M Murphy, L Coppinger, M Cahalane; R Harty, L Hayes, A Fitzgerald; M Condon, I O’Regan; E Murphy, O Cremin, S McCarthy; A McAuliffe, O Cahalane, S McCartan.

Subs: H Ryan for R Harty, N McNabola for A McAuliffe (h-t), C Kingston for I O’Regan (50), C O’Callaghan for E Murphy (54), D O’Brien for M Cahalane (56).

Referee: Ray Kelly (Kildare).