2023 VERY National Camogie Division 1: Round 2
Galway v Kilkenny
Date: 25 Feb, 3pm
Venue: UPMC Nowlan Park, Kilkenny
Referee: Andy Larkin
FT: Galway 1-17 Kilkenny 1-13
- VIDEO: Galway v Kilkenny (Div 1A) (via Camogie Association YouTube Channel)
- PLAYER PROFILES: Senior team
- MANAGEMENT: Senior team management
MATCH PHOTOS







MATCH REPORT
The Galway senior camogie team bounced back from their defeat to Tipperary last weekend and got their Very Division 1A Camogie League back on track on Saturday when the overcame Kilkenny in UPMC Nowlan Park in a thrilling encounter. Galway kept their composure throughout and worked hard in both defence and attack to ensure they got their first 2 points on the board.
It was Galway who started the brightest. Ailish O’Reilly capitalised on a mistake in the Kilkenny defence and slotted the ball over the bar for Galway’s opening score in the first minute. O’Reilly was on the ball a minute later and laid off a lovely ball to Carrie Dolan and Dolan who brought her shooting boots with her, scoring 10 points on the day made no mistake in sticking the ball over the bar. Denise Gaule missed a simple free for Kilkenny on the 5th minute but Julianne Malone made up for the mistake a minute later and opened Kilkenny’s account. O’Reilly, who was proving a real threat for Galway in the inside line was fouled on the 7th minute and Dolan made no mistake in scoring the resulting free. Malone responded for Kilkenny 3 minutes later. Galway got three unanswered points in a row through a Aoife Donohue and Dolan 2, one through a free, to leave Galway 0-6 to 0-2 ahead with 16 minutes on the clock.
Gaule ended Galway’s scoring streak with a point from play on the 17th minute but Aine Keane responded for Galway straight from the puck out. Asha McHardy from play and Gaule through a free added to Kilkenny’s tally to leave two between the sides heading into the final few minutes. Sabina Rabbitte got her name on the scorecard on the 26th minute but Michaela Kenneally and Katie Power replied with two quick fire points for Kilkenny to leave the minimum between the sides. Galway finished the half the strongest with points from O’Reilly and a free from Dolan to leave it 0-10 to 0-7 in favour of Galway heading into the half time break.
Kilkenny always come with a strong second half performance so Galway knew that they would need to get a good start to the second half in order to extend their lead. Galway did get that dream start with Donohue taking on the Kilkenny defence. She lost the ball around the square but O’Reilly was on hand to pull on the ball into the back of the Kilkenny net. Kilkenny responded well with a free through Gaule and a point from play McHardy, but Dolan replied with another free from Galway on the 35th minute to leave 5 between the sides. Kilkenny then began to put the pressure on Galway scoring 1-3 without reply to give them the lead for the first time in the game. Points from Jenny Clifford, McHardy, a free from Gaule and a well worked team goal was finished to the back of the Galway net by Malone to leave Kilkenny 1-12 to 1-11 ahead with 15 minutes on the clock. Galway did not fall to the pressure scoring the next four points without reply through Dolan, two frees and one from play and one from O’Reilly to give Galway a three point lead again. Gaule got Kilkenny’s final score of the game on the 53 rd minute with a point from a free while Niamh Hanniffy got her name on the scoresheet with a point from play and player of the game Dolan added another free to her tally at the end to leave it Galway 1-17 Kilkenny 1-13.
Galway must be credited for their much improved performance this week. They also must be credited for how they finished off the game strongly after conceding 1-3 in a row between the 37th and 45th minutes of the second half. For Galway, their captain, Shauna Healy, Roisín Black and Dervla Higgins preformed well in defence while up front, player of the match Carrie Dolan, goal scorer Ailish O’Reilly, Aoife Donohue and Áine Keane all put in a great performance. While for Kilkenny, Steffi and Tiffanie Fitzgerald, Denise Gaule, Julianne Malone, Michaela Kennelly and Asha McHardy all tried hard. Up next for Galway will be a game against Clare at home on Saturday in Kilbeacanty at 3PM. The game will be part of a double header with the intermediate team as they take on Wexford in the opening game at 1PM.
Galway:
F Ryan, S Healy (c), R Black, D Higgins, R Hanniffy, E Helebert, S Gardiner, A Donohue (0-1), C Hickey, C Dolan(0-10, 0-7F), N Hanniffy (0-1), A Keane (0-1), A O’Reilly (1-3), S Rabbitte (0-1), N McPeake
Substitutes: J Hughes for Helebert (46mins), J Hughes for McPeake (46mins), N McInerny for O’Reilly (blood Sub 54mins), A O’Reilly for McInerny (blood sub reversal 56mins) K.A Porter for Healy (63mins)
Kilkenny:
E Kavanagh, C O’Keeffe, G Walsh C Phelan, S Fitzgerald, N Deely, T Fitzgerald, D Gaule (0-5, 0-4F), A Prendergast, J Malone (1-2), K Power (0-1), M Kenneally (0-1), L Murphy, A McHardy (0-3), J Clifford (0-1)
Substitutes: Miriam Bambrick for A Prendergast (42) Michelle Teehan for Phelan (43), Sophie O’Dwyer for Kenneally (54)
MATCH REACTIONS:
- Murray pleased with Galway’s resolve – Camogie Association
- National Camogie League – Galway 1-17 KIlkenny 1-13 – Report and Reaction – Galway Bay FM
- Galway inflict another defeat on Kilkenny; Tipp and Cork remain on full points – The42.ie
- Galway back in the groove with timely win over Cats – Connacht Tribune
MATCH PREVIEW
2023 VERY National Camogie Division 2: Round 1
Galway v Kilkenny
Date: 25 Feb, 1pm
Venue: Clara GAA, Kilkenny, Eircode: R95 PNK8 (*Note change of venue)
Referee: Eoin Morrissey
FT: Galway 0-7, Kilkenny 3-16
- PROFILES: View intermediate team profiles
- MANAGEMENT: Intermediate management team

MATCH PHOTOS






MATCH REPORT
By Sarah Gaughran (Galway Camogie PRO)
The Galway Intermediate Camogie team suffered a heavy defeat away to Kilkenny in their opening game of the Very Camogie League Division 2B competition. It is a completely new look team for
Galway due to Galway winning the Glen Dimplex Intermediate title back in August, so the players can take loads of learning points away from the clash.
Galway were the quickest out of the blocks with a Chloe Broderick free in the 2nd minute of the game. Aoife Cantwell responded straight from the puck out for Kilkenny and Danielle Morrissey got her first free of the day 3 minutes later to leave Kilkenny in front. Broderick replied for the tribeswomen with a well taken point from play to bring the sides level again. Danielle Quigley replied to give Kilkenny the lead back, but Broderick replied with a free to leave the sides level after 10 minutes of the opening half. Then Kilkenny scored 1-2 without reply through a free from Morrissey, a point from Quigley and a well taken goal by Therese Donnelly to leave Kilkenny 1-5 to 0-3 ahead heading up to the halfway point of the half. Broderick replied with two frees for Galway, but Morrissey replied with her third point of the half on the 20 th minute. Mairead Dillion got her name on the Galway scoresheet on the 25 th minute. Kilkenny captain Hannah Scott and Galway’s free taker Broderick exchanged scores at the end of the half to leave Kilkenny 1-7 to 0-7 ahead at half time.
Galway needed a big second half performance in order to overcome their three point deficit at half time but they Galway failed to score for the whole second half. Kilkenny dominated the second half of the game scoring 2-9 without reply throughout the half. They got points and goals through from Morrissey (1-4, 1-2F), Caroline Kennedy (1-1), Afton Grace (0-2), Donnelly (0-1) and Laura Greene (0-1). It must be noted that Galway gave game time to 23 players throughout the duration of the game and for some of these players, it was their first time playing at this level.
While the Galway girls put in a great first half performance, they will learn an awful lot from the second half. It was the girls first time playing competitively as a team so their performances can only improve as they get more competitive games into them over the coming weeks. Up next for the girls is a home game against Wexford in Kilbeacanty on Saturday.
Galway:
C Hickey, R Kelly, P Finnerty, S Forde, K Coleman, K Mannion C Lawless, S Coleman, R Hughes, Karen Kennedy (JC), Ava Lynskey (JC), C Broderick (0-6, 0-5F), M Gannon, M Dillon (0-1), C Reilly
Substitutes: C McClearan for Hickey (HT), N Spellman for Kennedy (HT), N Horan for Coleman (HT), A Donnellan for Lawless (HT), R McPhilbin for Finnerty (35), S McGinley for Broderick (41), K Somers for Coleman (52), L Burke for Forde (55)
Kilkenny:
C Murphy, K Byrne, A O’Connor, J Cass, K McCluskey, R Phelan, H Scott (0-1), L Greene (0-1), M Kennedy, D Quigley (0-2), A Cantwell (0-1), D Morrissey (1-7, 1-5F), E Gunner, C Kennedy (1-1), T Donnelly (1-1).
Substitutes: A Grace (0-2) for Donnelly (41) and E Mulhall for Quigley (52)