Kilkenny withstood a strong Tipperary comeback to take victory by four points in their final group stages tie in the Gala All-Ireland Senior A Camogie Championship at Toomevara last night.
The impressive win wasn’t enough to book the Cats a spot in the semi-finals as they had already lost four games. Tipperary were already safely through with three wins.
A wind assisted Kilkenny started brightly with goals from Ann Dalton and Aoife Neary in the 12th and 20th minutes of the contest proving crucial in what was a balanced team performance by the visitors to Toomevara.
Home side Tipperary had reduced the margin to four points thanks to good work from Jill Horan before the interval but late points from Marie Dargan and Michelle Quigley ensured a 2-7 to 0-7 half-time lead for Kilkenny.
Kilkenny remained strong in the second half with an early point from Katy Power plus a fine save from goalkeeper Sile Ryan from a Claire Grogan goal shot ensured the Cats maintained the upper hand.
Six second half points from Grogan and a brace of scores from Eimear McDonnell cut the gap to a goal as injury time approached but Kilkenny held out for victory, adding a point to win by a four point margin.
Scorers:
Kilkenny – A Neary (1f) 1-3; A Dalton (1f) 1-1; I Kennedy (1f) 0-3; K Power, M Dargan 0-2 each; KA Cottrell, M O’Connor, M Quigley 0-1 each.
Tipperary – C Grogan (1f, 2 45) 0-6; J Horan 0-4; N Kennedy, E McDonnell 0-2 each; L Young, P Fogarty 0-1 each.
