Tipp Under 16 camogie side come up short against Galway but still all to play for

Tipperary travelled to Ballinsloe on Saturday hoping to make it two wins in a row in the All-Ireland U16 A championship having defeated Kilkenny the week previously.

Playing with the advantage of the wind they trailed an excellent Galway outfit at the break 1-8 to 0-7 points.

A disappointing second half display which only yielded a single point (a Caoimhe Stakelum free) meant Galway
ran out comfortable 13 point winners.

Tipperary will have little time to dwell on the defeat but instead must dust themselves off and go again this Sunday at home to a Wexford side who drew with Galway in their opening game.

A big improvement will therefore be needed come Sunday afternoon. The team however is capable of such improvements as Sunday’s performance never reached the workrate and scoring prowess of the Kilkenny game.

Forced to make changes to the starting team due to injuries along with the journey to Galway seemed to have deterred the team. However the Galway performance and strength and skill of their 1-15 must be acknowledged.

Tipperary started well and went 3 points up within the opening 3 minutes thanks to two Lucy O’Brien strikes and one point from Caoimhe Stakelum.

Moments later Laoise McGrath the youngest sister of the famous McGrath sisters from Sarsfields got Galway off the mark with a point before following up with Galway’s first goal of the game.

Galway were in front and from here they never looked back. Midfielder Grace Tarpey who was excellent
throughout scored her first free of the game followed by a Katie Lawless point to put Galway into
the lead 1-3 to 0-3.

Tarpey and Caoimhe Stakelum exchanged points from frees as the half wore on and at the interval Galway enjoyed a 1-08 to 0-7 point lead with the advantage of the wind to come in the second half. Galway raced out of the traps on the restart with 3 quick points in succession against a Tipp team that as hard as they tried could never get going in this contest.

Caoimh Stakelum responded with a pointed free on the 37th minute to make it 1-11 to 0-08 points.
Disappointing for Tipp this was to be their final score of the game while Galway powered ahead and scored another goal and 4 points.

The goal coming from substitute Miah Rodgers twenty minutes into the second half. The Tipperary management team rung the changes in a bid to stem the Galway attack and produce a score at the other end.

But nothing seemed to work on the day with standout performances all over the field for Galway especially Rebecca Gardiner in defence.

Tipperary: Sarah Quinlan, Sarah Mcloughlin, Maura Gleeson, Leanna Coppinger, Clodagh Grimes,
Isobelle O’Donnell, Ciara Cahill, Rachel O’Meara, Mya Hickey, Lucy O’Brien (0-02), Ava Gaynor, Danielle
Butler, Lucy Heffernan, Caoimhe Stakelum (0-06, 5 frees), Kate Dowling

Subs used: Anna O’Brien, Leanne Gahon, Caoimhe Troy, Maeve Cuneen, Eimear Troy