Galway's back-to-back aim can come to fruition 

2025: Aoife Donohue of Galway in action against Cork players, from left, Laura Treacy, Ashling Thompson, Aoife Healy and Sorcha McCartan. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Galway are forewarned not by the comprehensive beating at home to Cork on the opening day of the championship but by the piercing hurt that demonically drove them in last year’s final. The champions know the shoe is firmly on the other foot this time around.

Where Cork were surprisingly rattled by Galway’s on-the-edge savagery 12 months ago, an approach complimented by the artistry of Donohue, O’Reilly, Mallon, and Dolan, the Tribeswomen must be ready for what wounded Cork come with.

What exactly Cork table will surely centre around Laura Hayes and Saoirse McCarthy running at Galway, so as to negate the sweeping brilliance of Ciara Hickey, and creating as often as possible one-on-one scenarios inside for Orlaith Cahalane and Amy O’Connor. Top-scorer from play, Sorcha McCartan, is another they’ll want utilised inside, not roaming further out as she was 12 months ago.

Concerns and doubts permeate through both camps. What state is Ashling Thompson’s left hamstring in? What of Niamh Mallon’s shoulder and Aoife Donohue’s knee?

Seven players start their first All-Ireland senior final on Sunday. They are Ava Fitzgerald, Isobel Sheehan, and Millie Condon for Cork, and for Galway you have Katie Manning, Katie Anna Porter, Ally Hesnan, and Niamh Niland. What impact - positive or otherwise - will these newcomers have?

With centre-back Méabh Murphy used off the bench last year, none of Cork’s half-back line of Fitzgerald, Murphy, and Sheehan started the 2025 final. Is that where Galway target?

Across the last two deciders, Galway failed to score beyond the 51st minute in 2024 and scored only once beyond the 51st minute in 2025. Cork outgunned them 1-5 to 0-1 across these two periods. Galway's endgame must deliver more flags. If Mallon is held in reserve, their bench is equipped to step up here.

In an interview with Galway Bay FM over the winter, Player of the Year Donohue identified the 2019 semi-final win as a “turning point” for Galway. It was the evening they stopped looking up at Cork. They’ve bettered them in two finals since. 

They’ve earned the right to be backed here. They must now earn a first-ever back-to-back.

Verdict: Galway