Camogie final preview: Cork can turn the tables against Galway
FINAL COUNTDOWN: Pictured is the O'Duffy Cup ahead of the 2026 Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship final set to take place between Cork and Galway this Sunday. Pic: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne.
It is billed as the settler but there are so many reasons to believe this pair will be back duking it out in 12 months’ time.
It’s a rivalry that camogie wants and camogie needs. For now, it completes the trilogy and Cork will feel they should be more motivated after Galway denied them the three-in-a-row last season.
That is a deep pool from which to draw but, even with some of the injury concerns they have, Galway’s resources are plentiful.
An injury to somebody like Ashling Thompson is going to be felt more severely in the Cork group than it would in Galway’s.
The reigning champions are one brutal team to break down – their last goal concession in championship was Orlaith Cahalane’s in last year’s final.
But then Cork have conceded just one this term, which was to Galway. It’s immovable object versus immovable object.
Both have demonstrated they aren’t overly dependent on scoring goals. Don’t underestimate what the St Finbarr's players must be feeling after the Athenry contingent compounded their disappointment in the club final replay earlier this year.
The likes of the Cahalanes and Sorcha McCartan have twice as much reason to square matters.
Another one-score game awaits but last year’s result to flip.
Cork.
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 there 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.
Galway
A collection of the latest sports news, reports and analysis from Cork.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
