'That's where they got us last year': Galway knew disrupting Cork platform would be key

The surprise of the camogie final was Cork’s unflinching belief in their own approach and unwillingness or inability to deviate from their gameplan.

Tue, 12 Aug, 2025 - 02:30

Eoghan Cormican

Cork’s opening point of the camogie final, started and scored in the space of 18 seconds, was the perfect showcase of the Cork gameplan. The perfect showcase of how they had sauntered into the final.

An Amy Lee puckout went short to full-back Pamela Mackey. It was the first of six consecutive passes to hand. Each one short, snappy, and accurate. Laura Hayes, Hannah Looney, Ashling Thompson, and Saoirse McCarthy all took and moved on possession. Looney continued racing forward to receive the sixth and final pass. 18 seconds from Lee’s restart to Looney reaching the target.

It was the first of only two occasions where Cork succeeded in stringing together such a sequence of passes. It was the first of only two occasions their running game was activated from a restart and a point from play fashioned at the end of it. Both of those came inside the opening seven minutes.

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Two minutes after Looney’s early white flag, Cork again went short from the restart. Swarmed by Aoife Donohue and Carrie Dolan, and with Mairead Dillon also in her line of sight, Mackey threw a loose handpass that was gathered by Ailish O’Reilly. The final was less than five minutes old and Galway had already turned over Cork on five occasions.

If the Cork gameplan was clear, so too was Galway’s.

Of course, there was no surprise in what either brought to the table. The surprise was Cork’s reaction to Galway’s physical intent and savage work ethic. Maroon aggression agitated them even though they knew it was coming.

The surprise was Cork’s unflinching belief in their own approach and unwillingness or inability to deviate. They continued to attempt to walk possession out from the back and through the lines. They were continually swarmed, strip-searched, and relieved of the sliotar.

Where was the pre-planning in the event of their running game being stopped at the startline, in the event of aggression stifling athleticism?

We counted 25 first-half occasions where Cork were dispossessed or turned over possession under pressure. 1-7 of Galway’s first-half 1-9 came from this source.

As the above referenced turnover by Mackey illustrated, Galway rarely hunted alone. Saoirse McCarthy was set upon and swallowed by three maroon shirts late in the first half. For Mairead Dillon’s goal, it was Aoife Donohue and Niamh Mallon double-teaming Sorcha McCartan out of possession.

As Mallon announced afterwards, fury and suffocation were the only way they were going to win.

“If we were going to turn Cork over, it was going to be intensity that was going to take us there. We brought a massive intensity this time last year, we just didn't have the composure to see it out,” the half-forward began.

“I think the experience of last year really stood to us, particularly coming down the stretch. We managed the game a whole lot better than this time last year. We're just delighted to get over the line.”

Cork’s starting inside line of Katrina Mackey, Sorcha McCartan, and Amy O’Connor came into the final with 5-27 from play between them. None of the three scored from play. None of the three lasted the hour. Mackey, McCartan, and O’Connor were all sitting in the Hogan Stand by the 48th minute.

Róisín Black, Rachael Hanniffy, and Annmarie Starr executed their individual marking jobs on the three superbly. Galway executed their collective zeal superbly to ensure the ball going into the Cork forwards was spoiled.

Emma Murphy was the sole Cork forward to score from play until Orlaith Cahalane’s goal a second shy of the hour mark, and this from the team coming in with an average winning margin of 20 points and unbeaten in 20 championship games.

“We really went after stopping their running game at source,” continued Mallon, who now has the full set of All-Ireland medals having previously won junior and intermediate honours with her native Down.

“If they get out, they're a fierce dangerous side. Trying to not let them build from the back and give them a platform, particularly in that middle third.

“That's where they got us last year. They hit 1-3 or 1-4 without reply building solely from the back. We knew we couldn't let that happen if we were going to win today and thankfully we managed the game better in that third quarter.”

Mallon was effusive in her praise of referee Justin Heffernan and his determination to “let the game go”. Highest praise, though, was reserved for Cathal Murray.

“Delighted for the group and delighted for Cathal. They put a massive effort in. It's easy for people to have pops at management teams and the way they set teams up but the time and effort that that group has put into us has been massive since the turn of January. I'm just delighted to be part of the group and very grateful.”