Gaelic GamesThe Schemozzle

Refereeing comes under scrutiny in senior camogie final after controversial goal

Camogie championships are all about levels; World Wallball Championships come to Limerick

Galway's Olwen Rabbitte receives a yellow card from referee Liz Dempsey. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho
Galway's Olwen Rabbitte receives a yellow card from referee Liz Dempsey. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho
Paul Fitzpatrick
Mon Aug 12 2024 - 06:00
Camogie championships are all about levels

Camogie, like hurling, is all about levels. There are five tiers in adult intercounty hurling; in camogie, there are four. The Nancy Murray Cup is the fourth-tier competition, essentially the Junior B All-Ireland, and is made up of the teams in the Premier Junior Championship who do not qualify for the quarter-finals.

Arguably the most eye-catching result from finals weekend was the final of that competition, which saw Wicklow defeat Mayo by 7-15 to 0-4 in Banagher, Co Offaly. Wicklow were in the final of the competition in 2022, losing to Tyrone, who found the net three times late on to win by a point. Last year, they returned to the final with a new-look side and defeated Mayo by 1-15 to 1-5 and, on Saturday, they retained their title with 32 points to spare against the Connacht side. So Wicklow are a very good side – but the Garden women themselves were on the wrong side of a 35-point defeat (9-18 to 2-4) against Armagh earlier in the campaign. Levels ...

Refereeing comes under scrutiny in camogie final

While they felt it was a brilliant contest, RTÉ radio 1′s analysts Kate Kelly and Sarah Dervan were not overly impressed with the refereeing in the senior final, a subject which drew plenty of ire (what doesn’t?) on social media, too. After the final whistle, Kelly suggested there were “maybe a few questionable points where Liz [Dempsey] maybe should have given a free or two in on the top of the D for Galway” while Dervan went further. Asked by presenter Joanne Cantwell if Cork’s crucial goal had “a touch of Joe Sheridan in the 2010 Leinster football final” about it, Dervan commented: “I don’t think the goal should have stood and, on Kate’s point, I do think Liz was very harsh on Galway”.

Familiar foes meet in camogie deciders

While the football and hurling finals this year scored highly in terms of novelty factor, the line-up in the senior camogie decider – and the intermediate final for that matter – was a familiar one. Sunday’s final was the 10th meeting of Cork and Galway in the senior showpiece since they first met on the big day in 1939. Cork had won eight of the previous meetings, with the Tribeswomen triumphant in 1996 and 2021. In the Intermediate final, Cork and Kilkenny clashed for only the second time (the first was 2008), although that competition was only inaugurated in 1992 and was renamed as the All-Ireland Senior B Championship for two years (2006 and 2007) before going back to the original. Cork now lead the way in both with five intermediate titles and 30 senior.

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World Wallball Championships come to Limerick

The first-ever World Wallball (One Wall handball) Championships serve off at the University of Limerick next Sunday, with almost 900 entries from 12 countries. One player who will be missing out is Sinéad Meagher, who captained Tipperary in Sunday’s All-Ireland Premier Junior final and has had to forgo the alley due to camogie commitments. Meagher modestly stated in an interview midweek that she had “won a few handball competitions”. In reality, she is a world 19&U champion!

Quote

“I suppose, we want to be a generational team so we want to go again so this might only be the start but for now, we’ll enjoy the winter.”

Hannah Looney is not resting on her laurels.

Number

15

Days in which Galway have lost All-Ireland senior finals in men’s football, ladies football and camogie.