Galway and Waterford will be the two sides making their way to UPMC Nowlan Park for the Centra National Camogie League Division 1A final on Sunday, 12 April, after the Tribeswomen overcame Cork by 0-18 to 1-9 at Athenry.
With Waterford already qualified on the back of four successive wins, Déise manager Michael Boland could afford to make a handful of changes, resting some key players for their game at The Ragg. This helped Tipperary to pick up their second win of the campaign on a 3-21 to 1-08 scoreline.
That meant that Antrim needed to beat Kilkenny at UPMC Nowlan Park to salvage their place in the top tier after a very competitive campaign that saw them record an historic win over Cork, but despite giving themselves some hope with a Cliona Griffin goal after 53 minutes, they were unable to bild on that and the Cats rattled off 1-03 to win by nine points.
To most neutral observers however, the game of the day was at Kenny Park, where last year's All-Ireland finalists reunited for a contest that had massive connotations at both ends of the table, the pair having lost their two opening games in the competition.
It was certainly nervy fare in the early stages when Carrie Dolan hit three points and almost had a fortuitous goal, with Amy Lee just about recovering to clear the ball off the line after she fumbled the Galway freetaker’s long ball.
Orlaith Cahalane has been in superb form after rejoining the Rebels on foot of her exploits with St Finbarr’s in the club championship and she shot two from play as Cork found their feet to draw level at 0-05 each early in the second quarter.
That quarter proved to be decisive, however, as Galway hit six on the trot, two each from Dolan, Niamh McPeake and Aoibheann Barry, with Lee called into action again to deny Barry a goal from a speculative angled shot.
The second half was scrappy fare, with just five points scored in the first 20 minutes after the restart in benign conditions. Galway kept nudging that bit further in front, McPeake bringing her tally to four from play, meaning Cahalane’s late scrambled goal was of relevance to the scoring difference, but little else.
Intermediate side, Antrim have been a breath of fresh air in the division and they made a solid start to their attempt to pick up a second win of the campaign in their Noreside fixture. Nicole McAtamney hit four of her six points (0-04 from play) in the opening 18 minutes, and it took four dead ball scores from Aoife Prendergast to level matters by half time, 0-08 each.
It was from the 40th minute that Kilkenny put themselves in a winning position, with Sarah Barcoe’s goal the key score as they went seven in front. Griffin’s green flag set up a tense finish but points from Emma Shortall, Katie Nolan and Asha McHardy had the game won before Shortall added a final exclamation point with a stoppage time goal.
It took all of 40 seconds for Tipperary to find the net against Waterford through Róisín Howard, and they had six different scorers by the 15-minute mark, with Lucy Purcell and Karen Kennedy looking particularly sharp.
Eimear McGrath’s goal to start the second half and a late green flag from Karen Kennedy ensured that Waterford will go into their first ever top tier hurling league final needing to reset to get back to their best form, but with all their big guns back to help them do so.
In Division 1B the big game of the day was at Abbotstown where Dublin put Limerick to the sword in the early stages, scoring 2-06 – the goals from Grace O’Shea and Aisling Maher (above) – before Limerick got their first point with 22 minutes played.
A draw would have been enough for Limerick to hold off their opponents and reach a league final against Clare, but they never looked like getting it, despite Laura Southern goaling just before half time. It finished 2-17 to 2-08
Clare beat Offaly by 2-17 to 2-11 in Ennis but the Faithful County will stay in this division after Wexford travelled to Down and prevailed by 0-15 to 0-10.
In Division 2A, Kerry beat Derry and Meath just about got the point they needed to join the Kingdom in the final, with Carlow relegated.
Finally, Kildare’s two-point win over Tyrone was a gift to Roscommon, who will now meet Armagh in the Division 3A decider.
Mayo accounted for Monaghan 2-12 to 1-6 in the Division 3B final.
