Resilient Rebels have the chance to end their Galway hoodoo

GALWAY, again.

No matter where this Cork camogie team turns, Galway are there.

Hours after the Rebels dethroned Kilkenny in their quarter-final, the two best teams left in the All-Ireland senior championship were pitted against one another in the semi-finals: it’s Cork v Galway, and Waterford v Tipperary in Nowlan Park on July 22nd.

This is a chance for Cork, carrying serious momentum after last weekend, to break their hoodoo against the Tribeswomen.

Three times the counties have already clashed this season, and Galway have won them all.

There was the 1-11 to 1-10 home loss in the league in March that mattered little to Cork who had already qualified for the Division 1A final, but in the league game that did matter, Galway won again, 2-13 to 1-12 – and that defeat hurt, as Cork’s wait for national silverware goes on. Then Galway beat Matthew Twomey’s side in their championship Group 1 opener in June, 1-12 to 0-12. Rarely more than a puck of a ball between them, and now they’ll meet again.

Galway have also beaten Cork in three of the Rebels’ last four major finals, too. The 2023 league final. The 2022 league decider. The 2021 All-Ireland final.

In fact, Cork haven’t beaten Galway in the championship since the 2017 All-Ireland semi-final.

The Rebels really owe them one, and they’ll fancy their chances after knocking Kilkenny out.

Cork's Izzy O'Regan, Aoife O'Neill and Kate Wall celebrate the win.

There were some notable takeaways from this quarter-final. Cork boss Twomey mentioned afterwards how his side’s character has been questioned after losing big games – but look at their response when they slipped 1-4 to 0-2 behind in the first half. By the break they led by two.

There was a trend in those four recent final defeats, too – Cork leading in the second half but fading away to eventually lose.

The 2023 league final, Cork led by three at the break and lost by four. The 2022 All-Ireland decider, the Rebels were two points in front after 30 minutes, but lost by one. 2022 league final, led by six early in the second half, but lost by four. In the 2021 All-Ireland final, Cork led Galway 1-11 to 0-11 with ten minutes left, but lost 1-15 to 1-12.

Last Sunday, Cork led at the break, swelled that advantage to five during the second half and while Kilkenny trimmed it to one, the resilient Rebels held out to win. That’s a rock to build on there. Again, character.

‘All we wanted was the result,’ Matthew Twomey said afterwards, ‘You wouldn’t be overly happy with the display but it was about the result.’ He feels there’s more to come, and he’s right. Cork were a distant second best in the first quarter, and Twomey was also critical of his side’s conversion rate.

‘If we can get a top performance – the scores we left behind us – if we can get them converted, we’ll be hard to beat,’ he added, and his confidence will be boosted by the return of some regular faces. Two-time All-Star Ashling Thompson made her first appearance of the season, having suffered an ACL injury in August 2022. 2020 All-Star Orla Cronin came off the bench for the second game in a row after her recent injury troubles. Laura Hayes, another sidelined through injury, came on too. It strengthens Twomey’s hand ahead of the biggest game of the season – and of his two season’s as manager – against a familiar opponent.