The Galway U16 camogie team's unbeaten run in the Eir U16A All-Ireland Camogie Championship continued on Saturday when they overcame Tipperary for the second time in two weeks in the All-Ireland semi-final to secure their place in a third consecutive U16A All-Ireland final.
Scores were hard to come by in the first half with both defences on top while Galway had a few missed scoring chances. Cara Giblin got the opening score of the game for the hosts after eight minutes. Grace Cleary brought the sides level with a point from a free at the midway point of the half.
Roisin Coleman edged Galway in front again a minute later but Tipperary started to get a grip on the game with three unanswered points to leave them two in front after 24 minutes. Galway found it hard to break through Tipperary's defence but they did end up getting a pivotal goal two minutes before the break. Kate O’Sullivan managed to break through the full back line, laying off a ball to Coleman and she made no mistake on pulling on the ball first time and blasting it into the net.
Coleman added another free to give Galway a 1-3 to 0-4 lead heading into the break.
Galway came out like a different team in the second half and they brought a new level of intensity to the game. Galway pushed up on Tipperary, putting pressure on their puck outs and they capitalised.
Giblin was to the fore in the Galway attack scoring 1-2 in four minutes to leave Galway 2-6 to 0-4 ahead by the 39th minute of the half. Dwan got Tipperary’s first score in nearly 15 minutes. Coleman and Cleary swapped scores on the 44th and 49th minutes.
It was Galway who finished the stronger with a free from Eve Kenny and a point from substitute Siofra Barry, either side of an Abbie Horgan point to leave it Galway 2-9 Tipperary 0-7 at full time.
Galway will be happy with their second half performance and will be hoping that they can bring the intensity of the second half to the All-Ireland final in two weeks' time. The young Tribeswomen will hope it is a case of third time lucky having lost out in the 2023 and 2024 finals by a single point on each occasion.
They will look forward to take on Cork on Saturday, May 3 in Nowlan Park.
