Jenny Grace ace as Tipperary advance to semi-finals

Tipperary have qualified for the Division 1 semi-finals of the National Camogie League thanks to their nine-point win over Dublin in The Ragg, and Clare’s 15-point reverse at the hands of a thriving Galway at Clooney GAA grounds.

They will play Kilkenny in the semi-final but defending champions Galway, who topped Group 1 with five straight wins, have to wait to find out who their opponents will be, as All-Ireland champions Cork face Limerick in a play-off on Sunday to determine the runners-up position in Group 2.

At The Ragg, a Jenny Grace goal helped Tipperary to a 1-5 to 0-5 interval lead. Grace hit 1-8 as Tipp eased to a 2-12 to 1-6 win.

Clare won the first two games of their campaign but defeat to Tipperary sparked a horror run of three defeats, climaxing in the 4-11 to 1-5 loss to Galway yesterday .

Aoife Donoghue, Caitriona Murphy, Ailish O’Reilly, and Shauna Healy raised green flags for Ollie Bergin’s team, while Aoife Callanan slotted six points. As has become customary, Chloe Morey offered the only real threat for Clare as she scored all but one of the Bannerwomen’s points.

Kilkenny’s 2-12 to 0-14 defeat of Limerick in Bruff was enough to see them to the semi-final. Ann Downey’s outfit advance as table-toppers by virtue of a vastly superior score difference.

Elsewhere, Waterford secured their first win in the top tier as they made the lengthy journey to Owenbeg pay with a 3-12 to 2-9 win over Derry. The campaign finished on a high for Offaly too as they saw off Wexford in StBrendan’s Park 1-12 to 0-13.