Galway stand in the way of Tipp Seniors progressing to All-Ireland Final

By Joe Scully

TIPPERARY go head-to-head with Galway in the Glen Dimplex Camogie All-Ireland Senior semi-final in Nowlan Park with a throw-in time of 3.00pm.

Both sides will be looking to go one better than12 months ago, when they both suffered heartbreaking defeats at the same stage. This will be the third meeting between the two sides with the Premier County coming out victorious on both occasions both in the league with a three point victory in the group stage after a 3-10 to 1-13 victory, and the Munster outfit been victorious also in the league final coming out on top this time by the bare minimum on a scoreline of 1-13 to 0-15, so except another tight game this weekend between two very evenly matched sides.

Tipperary come into the game as the form side, having come through the group stages with a 100% record, and some very impressive performances along the way, while the Tribeswomen come into the game with a few questions over them after suffering a twelve point defeat in their final group game against Cork, which meant a quarter final tie against Waterford, which they came through in the end, by a three-point winning margin, if not been overly impressive.

DANGEROUS GALWAY OUTFIT

Despite this, Galway remain a very dangerous outfit and have quality throughout the field with the likes of Aoife Donohue, who scored the crucial goal in the quarter-final victory, along with the very dangerous Carrie Dolan, who is usually deadly accurate on dead balls. Also, Niamh Kilkenny and Siobhan McGrath will be a massive threat to Tipperary’s chances of advancing to a first All-Ireland final since 2006.

Tipperary will be looking to the spine of their team to lead the way on Saturday, with Mairead Eviston, Karen Kennedy, Caoimhe Maher and Eimear McGrath all being in excellent form down the middle of the team all year. Other key players for the league champions will be Roisin Howard and Grace O’Brien, while manager Denis Kelly will be hoping for another strong impact off the bench with the likes of the vastly experienced Cait Devane and Mary Burke waiting in the wings after impressing in the final group game against Kilkenny.

Tipp’s bench has been one of their most impressive assets so far this year and they have developed real depth, which could be a crucial aspect of Saturday’s game.

Both sides are looking to avenge heartbreaking semi-final defeats in last year’s All-Ireland series, with Galway looking to reach the decider for the first time since 2021, where they won their third All-Ireland since 2013. While for Tipperary, they are looking to reach their first decider since 2006, as they go in search of a first All-Ireland title since 2004, which was a fifth championship in six years with Moneygall’s Mary Ryan the only survivor from that side.

Tipperary head into Saturday’s game as favourites, coming into the game as one of the country’s form sides having won all their group stage games. They also come in as the league champions, and have only lost two competitive games this year, but will be in no doubt they are going to be in for one hell of a battle against one of camogie’s top three, who along with Cork and Kilkenny have dominated since 2013, and if they can hit the heights they are capable of, will be very hard to beat.

VERDICT: Tipperary