Clare almost cause a major upset

CLARE came within minutes of beating Galway in the senior camogie championship on Saturday in Corofin and would have achieved a shock result but for a storming finish by the Galway girls.
Having defeated Clare on a scoreline of 3-16 to 1-5 in the league and with wins over Tipperary, Wexford and Cork already secure, Galway were assured and confident as they took to the field in abysmal weather conditions.
Points from Therese Maher and Veronica Curtin in the opening minutes saw them get off to the start they expected. Deirdre Murphy pointed for Clare after she collected a long Kate Lynch drive to open Clare’s account.
Galway’s Aislinn Connolly responded with a point before Galway were awarded a penalty when Clare goalie Susan Vaughan was penalised for pulling Curtin’s jersey as she attempted to clear her line.
Fiona Lafferty saved the resulting penalty before Galway put the rebound wide. Curtin went on to point again five minutes later, before Clare started to come more into the game.
Three unanswered points from Murphy and Claire McMahon (2) saw Clare draw level before Tara Rutledge pointed again to put the visitors back in front. McMahon levelled the sides again with another pointed free in the 25th minute and they traded points twice more in the half with McMahon, with two pointed frees, matching Connolly and Brenda Hanney for Galway to leave the sides level going in at the break.
Galway raised the first green flag of the day three minutes into the second half when Curtin pulled on a batted down clearance from Vaughan. Clare responded with a pointed free from Chloe Morey, which was then cancelled out by a like score from Rutledge, before Clare levelled the match again with a goal from Claire McMahon.
Connolly put Galway in front again with a pointed free before Clare, playing with a determination not yet seen in this championship, levelled matters with a like score from Claire McMahon, who recorded an impressive tally of 1-7 on the day. McMahon put Clare in front with another pointed free with five minutes of normal time remaining.
As the match looked to be slipping from their grasp, Galway, introduced star player Jessica Gill in an attempt to stem the onslaught.
Connolly levelled the game again in the 27th minute before Maher put Galway in front a minute later. Murray and Rutledge tacked on two more points in injury time before Morey pointed from a long-range free in the sixth minute of injury time.
While disappointed with the final result, manager Patsy Fahy was delighted with Clare’s overall performance, saying that the girls had worked extremely hard throughout the game and had shown that they can compete at this level. This was without doubt Clare’s best performance so far this year.
Clare have two games remaining in the championship. They play Kilkenny at Corofin on Saturday at 2pm and this will be another extremely tough challenge, while the following weekend they travel to Cork.
Depending on the result of the Cork v Wexford match this weekend, which Wexford will be expected to win, Clare could well end up in a play-off situation if they overcome the Rebelettes.
Clare will have to re-produce form similar to that which they showed last Saturday against Galway if they are to have a chance of finishing the campaign on a high note.

Galway: Susan Earner; Sandra Tannian, Sarah Devan, Niamh Kilkenny; Regina Glynn, Anne Marie Hayes, Heather Cooney; Emma Kilkelly, Orla Kilkenny; Caroline Murray, Therese Maher, Brenda Hanney; Tara Rutledge, Veronica Curtin, Aislinn Connolly.
Subs: Jessica Gill for Hanney (25th min).
Clare: Susan Vaughan; Sinéad Donovan, Kate Lynch, AnneMarie McMahon; Aiveen O’Shea, Chloe Morey (0-2, 1f), Eimear Considine; Róisín McMahon, Kelly McLean; Niamh Corry, Deirdre Murphy (0-2), Fiona Lafferty; Claire McMahon (1-7, 5f), Norah Murphy, Ruth Kaiser.
Subs: Siobhán Lafferty for O’Shea, Mairéad Scanlon for Róisín McMahon (45 min) and Claire Ryan for Corry (48 min).
Referee: Una Kearney, Armagh.