Camogie All-Ireland Senior Championship final: Cork v Galway, Croke Park, 5.15pm – Live on RTÉ
In the history of the game camogie has gone through long spells when the strongest teams took a grip and didn’t let go. Dublin ruled the 1950s and 1960s, Kilkenny dominated much of the 1970s and 1980s, Tipperary had a glorious run around the turn of the century while Cork’s record 30 titles have been harvested at regular intervals. They were never far away.
In a remarkable sequence, though, either Cork or Galway have contested every All-Ireland final since 2001: 25 and counting. In that time, Cork’s strike rate is an impressive 11 wins from 18 final appearances while Galway’s is just three from nine, but since Kilkenny fell off the pace in the last couple of years, Cork and Galway have been the two best teams in the championship by a considerable distance. This season, there was no doubt who would be in the final.
Naturally, they have history. Before the 2023 All-Ireland semi-final, Cork had lost seven games in a row to Galway, in league and championship, but since then the pendulum has swung.
RM Block
The only games that Cork have lost to Galway in the last two years have been in the league: the final group game of the 2024 competition, in what was effectively a semi-final, and in the final round of this year’s league, when Cork had already qualified for the final and fielded a weakened team.
Otherwise, Cork have had Galway’s measure. They beat them by 12 points in the group stages of last year’s championship and by 11 points in this year’s league final.
The significant game that bucked the trend, though, was last year’s All-Ireland final, a titanic match that was only decided by three late points and Cork’s superior options off the bench.
There is no suggestion, though, that Cork have dropped off in any way since last summer. In the run to the 2024 final their average winning margin was 19 points; this year it’s 20.
Ger Manley, the Cork manager, reckons that they have greater depth this year, and in that vein, Clodagh Finn has been one of the breakthrough players of the season. An impact sub in last year’s final, Finn was outstanding for UCC in the Ashbourne Cup at the beginning of the year and had scored 4-7 for Cork in the championship before injury ruled her out of the semi-final.
Emma Helebert and Shauna Healy, two vastly experienced players, have returned to the Galway set-up this year, but Áine Keane’s season has been wiped out by an ACL and Niamh Kilkenny’s retirement represents a massive loss of big game know-how and class.
Carrie Dolan and Niamh Mallon have been terrific, but they have accounted for more than half of Galway’s scores and there is a greater breadth to Cork’s attack. Saoirse McCarthy has been superb in the half-forward line and Amy O’Connor is a constant goal threat.
Cork are going for three-in-a-row but they have been thwarted seven times in this position since they last pulled it off in the early 1970s. That sequence will end here. Verdict: Cork
Also on Sunday
All-Ireland Intermediate Championship final: Kerry v Offaly, Croke Park, 3pm – Live on RTÉ
All-Ireland Premier Junior Championship final: Armagh v Laois, Croke Park, 1pm – Live on RTÉ
