2023 Electric Ireland All Ireland Minor Championship

Minor A: Round 3

Galway v Dublin
Date: 26 Mar, 3pm
Venue: TU Dublin Grangegorman Campus, Grangegorman, D07 H6K8 (map)
Referee: Barry Nea

FT: Galway 1-14 Dublin 0-11

MATCH REPORT

By Sarah Gaughran, Galway Camogie PRO
The Galway Minor Camogie team are sitting at the top of the table in the Electric Ireland Minor A Championship after they recorded their third win in the championship, keeping their unbeaten record intact. The girls recorded a six-point victory over Dublin on Sunday in TUD Grangegorman and as a result they have booked their place in the knockout stages of the championship with games against Tipperary and Cork still to go.

Dublin almost got in for a goal in the opening two minutes. There was a fantastic delivery into Saoirse Behan but unfortunately, Behan didn’t manage to keep the ball in her hand. Behan did pull on the ground, but her shot was stopped by Caoimhe Hickey in the Galway net. Behan was on the rebound, laying the ball off to Anna Simpson but Simpson was hooked by Abbie Massey and the ball was cleared out the wing by Ciara McGrath. Aoibheann Stokes opened the scoring for Dublin two minutes later with a free. Caoimhe Kelly replied with two well taken points from play on the 6 th and 7 th minutes to put Galway into the lead. Stokes brought the sides level again on the 10 th minute while Aoibheann Barry replied with her first score from play for the day to give Galway the lead heading up to the midway point of the half. Galway’s scoring spree continued as the managed to keep Dublin scoreless for the remainder of the half. Kelly (0-2), Alannah Fahy (0-2), Barry (0-1F) all added points in the final 12 minutes of the half for Galway while on the 27th minute Sophie Flynn was on hand to get Galway’s only goal of the game, just in time for half time. A long ball in from Massey was batted down into the patch on the oncoming Flynn and just like Ailish O’Reilly earlier in the day for the seniors, Flynn pulled on the ball on the ground and into the back of the Dublin net to extend Galway’s lead. Galway headed in on top at half time on a scoreline of Galway 1-8 Dublin 0-2.

Dublin were in real need of a score. Stokes got Dublin’s first score in 23 minutes when she slotted over her third free of the day on the 33 rd minute. Stokes from a free and Fahy from play exchanged scores on the 34 th and 36 th minutes respectively. Barry got her third point of day on the 7th minute but Stokes through a free and Zara Thorne from play tried to reduce the deficit for Dublin to leave it Galway 1-10 Dublin 0-6 heading into the final 15 minutes of the game. Flynn for Galway and Dublin substitute, Anna Thornton swapped scores on the 46th and 47th minutes. Dublin continued to slot over the scores however through a Stokes 45m and a well taken score from substitute Eimear Kehoe, to reduce the deficit to six with 9 minutes of normal time remaining. Barry settled the ship for Galway however on the 53 rd minute with two quick fire frees. Stokes and Barry exchanged frees again on the 56th and 62nd minutes. Keogh almost got in for a goal near the end of the game, but her shot was deflected out for a 45 by McGrath. Thorne did manage to get her second point of the day just before the final whistle to leave Galway six-point winners on a scoreline of Galway 1-14 to 0-11 winners on the day.

Galway will be delighted to have some pressure off them heading into their final two group games knowing that they have qualified for the knockout stages of the championship. They will look to continue their unbeaten record however as they head into their final two games.

Ava Crowe, Katie Scully, Ciara McGrath, Aoibheann Barry, Caoimhe Kelly and Alannah Fahy were some of Galway’s top performers while Milly Hughes, Aoibheann Stokes, Zara Thorne and Anna Thornton tried hard for Dublin. Up next is a trip to The Ragg on Sunday at 2PM for the girls where they will face Tipperary in their round 4 game.

Galway: C Hickey, K Coleman, A Crowe, K Scully, G Leen, C McGrath, Z Rogers, K Madden, A Massey, A Barry (0-6, 0-3F), S Carr, C O’Meara, C Kelly (0-4), A Fahy (0-3), S Flynn (1-1).
Subs: A Joyce for Rogers (36), L Nic Dhonncha for Leen (41), H Tarpey for Carr (44), A Collins for Massey (48), S Mullins for Flynn (51), L Murphy for Madden (56).

Dublin: M Farrell, C Tierney, S Cherry, A Byrne, M Hughes, N Cotter, N Brennan, Z Thorne (0-2), A Kenny, A Stokes (0-7, 0-6F, 0-1 45m), A Simpson, S Behan, S Power, H Reynolds, A Carey.
Subs: K Austin for Simpson (15), A Thornton (0-1) for Behan (HT), E Kehoe (0-1) for Carey (38), C French for Reynolds (58).

TEAM

• PLAYER PROFILES: Minor Panel
• MANAGEMENT: Minor Management
• FIXTURES: Minor A Championship Fixtures