SATURDAY 22 JULY
Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship semi-finals
Waterford v Tipperary, UPMC Nowlan Park, 3.30pm
Galway v Cork, UPMC Nowlan Park, 5.30pm
ONLINE
Live blogs on RTÉ.ie and the RTÉ News app.
TV
Live coverage on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player from 3.05pm.
RADIO
Live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport.
WEATHER
Saturday will be mostly dull and wet with outbreaks of rain and drizzle through the day. It will be heavy and persistent at times across northern areas, drier at times further south. Humid with top temperatures of 16 to 19 degrees. Southwest winds will be mostly light to moderate in strength. For more go to met.ie.
Final drought to end - but whose?
Waterford haven't been in a senior All-Ireland for 78 years. It’s 17 for Tipperary, current panellist Mary Ryan having played in that 2006 defeat by Cork.
Meanwhile, it has been 11 years since the final pairing comprised a team other than Cork, Galway or Kilkenny, when Wexford’s legendary outfit completed a three-in-a-row.
The two sides know each other well. Tipperary had the upper hand initially when the Déise made their return to the top tier in 2016. The newbies made the quarter-finals at the third attempt but found Tipp too strong for them in Páirc Uí Chaoimh and the Premier ended their hopes at the same stage in 2020 and 2021.
Waterford finally laid the bogey in the group stages last year. It was Tipp’s only defeat and they missed out on reaching the last six for the first time in eight campaigns as a result, on score difference. In the meantime, the Suirsiders finally cleared the quarter-final hurdle and gave Cork a huge fight in the semi, leading entering the final quarter before the Rebels prevailed.
Both squads were under new management this term and Waterford, led by All-Ireland U21 and minor-winning manager Seán Power, won the Division 1B Very League title before recording a first victory over Cork since their return to elite camogie in the Munster Championship. Tipperary dampened the mood quickly though, with a resounding victory on the way to claiming provincial honours.
Tipp boss Denis Kelly served as coach under Bill Mullaney, who had overseen huge progress. The League was decent, though losing to Kilkenny when a win would have put them through to the Division 1A decider was disappointing.
They chiselled out a draw against their old rivals to ensure top spot in the championship group, however, and after a comfortable victory over Antrim, who were also defeated convincingly by Waterford in their group, are back in the semi-finals, having pushed subsequent champions Galway all the way at the penultimate stage two years ago.
Cáit Devane, Karen Kennedy, Róisín Howard and Eimear McGrath are among Tipp’s pivotal performers, while Waterford will be looking to Beth Carton, Niamh Rockett, Lorraine Bray and Annie Fitzgerald among others to perform. Getting the match-ups right could be the decisive factor in this one.
Áine Slattery - an All-Star in 2020 - will continue in goal for Tipperary after it was confirmed that Caoimhe Bourke would miss the rest of the season having suffered a torn cruciate ligament against Kilkenny earlier this month.
On pure form figures and a head-to-head from this year, there can only be one winner. But while Cork were bitterly disappointed each of the three times they lost to Galway in the space of two months this year - their run of losses to the Tribeswomen stretching to eight consecutive league and championship ties - it would be foolish to discount Matthew Twomey’s side.
There was a league title up for grabs of course in the second of this year’s encounters, after Galway had beaten the Rebels in Páirc Uí Chaoimh to earn their spot in the decider. They then came out the right side of another tight game in the opening championship tie, ensuring the Tribeswomen topped their group and came out of the hat for a direct run to the last four.
That was what Cork wanted too but having lost four national finals in a row and fallen short in a number of close games, coming out on top by a point to Kilkenny, the team that had denied them by that margin in last year’s All-Ireland final, had to have been a huge boost, particularly as they were better value for that victory than the minimum margin.
Once more, Cork's conversion rate was not what it should have been but the direct running and pace of Saoirse McCarthy and Fiona Keating, to name just two, created so many opportunities that they deservedly advanced, despite a late Denise Gaule-inspired wobble. They also got Ashling Thompson, Orla Cronin and Laura Hayes on the pitch in the closing stages.
Galway did tremendously to win the league as they were down even more than Cork for a variety of reasons. The likes of Niamh Kilkenny and Sarah Healy remain unavailable but they are closer to full strength than at any time this year. That they could win the league while giving experience to so many younger players was a considerable achievement.
Cathal Murray has always rewarded spring form over previous heroics. He is used to dealing with the three-week break too and the dual All-Ireland winner has seen the likes of Carrie Dolan assume a strong leadership mantle alongside stalwarts Aoife Donohue and new captain, Shauna Healy.
The Tribeswomen are very strong defensively so the match-ups with the likes of Amy O’Connor and Katrina Mackey as well as the speedsters further out will be interesting.
Shauna Healy, Róisín Black and Dervla Higgins will need to be at their best while at the other end Pamela Mackey, Libby Coppinger and Laura Treacy are key figures with the likes of Dolan, Siobhán McGrath, Ailish O’Reilly and at least on occasion, Donohue to watch closer to goal.
