Kilkenny hit Antrim for good win, but miss out on senior camogie league final

Narrow margins proved to be the difference as Kilkenny’s League final hopes were ended by Galway.
The Tribeswomen will be the team to face Waterford in UPMC Nowlan Park for the Centra National Camogie League Division 1A final on Sunday April 12, after they overcame Cork by 0-18 to 1-9 at Athenry this afternoon.
Kilkenny went into their game with Antrim knowing they had to match Galway’s result to have a shot at making the final. They did just that, beating the Ulster side by 2018 to 1-12, but scoring difference gave Galway the nod.
Intermediate side Antrim have been a breath of fresh air in the division and they made a solid start to their attempt to pick up a second win of the campaign in their Noreside fixture. Nicole McAtamney hit four of her six points (0-4 from play) in the opening 18 minutes, and it took four dead ball scores from Aoife Prendergast to level matters by half-time, 0-8 each.
It was from the 40th minute that Kilkenny put themselves in a winning position, with Sarah Barcoe’s goal the key score as they went seven in front. Griffin’s green flag set up a tense finish but points from Emma Shortall, Katie Nolan and Asha McHardy had the game won before Shortall added a final exclamation point with a stoppage time goal.

With Waterford already qualified on the back of four successive wins, Déise manager Michael Boland could afford to make a handful of changes, resting some key players for their game at The Ragg. This helped Tipperary to pick up their second win of the campaign.
That meant that Antrim needed to beat Kilkenny at UPMC Nowlan Park to salvage their place in the top tier after a very competitive campaign that saw them record an historic win over Cork, but despite giving themselves some hope with a Cliona Griffin goal after 53 minutes, they were unable to build on that and the Cats rattled off 1-3 to win by nine points.
To most neutral observers however, the game of the day was at Kenny Park, where last year’s All-Ireland finalists reunited for a contest that had massive connotations at both ends of the table, the pair having lost their two opening games in the competition.
It was certainly nervy fare in the early stages when Carrie Dolan hit three points and almost had a fortuitous goal, with Amy Lee just about recovering to clear the ball off the line after she fumbled the Galway freetaker’s long ball.
Orlaith Cahalane has been in superb form after rejoining the Rebels on foot of her exploits with St Finbarr’s in the club championship and she shot two from play as Cork found their feet to draw level at 0-5 each early in the second quarter. That quarter proved to be decisive, however, as Galway hit six on the trot, two each from Dolan, Niamh McPeake and Aoibheann Barry, with Lee called into action again to deny Barry a goal from a speculative angled shot.
The second half was scrappy fare, with just five points scored in the first 20 minutes after the restart in benign conditions. Galway kept nudging that bit further in front, McPeake bringing her tally to four from play, meaning Cahalane’s late scrambled goal was of relevance to the scoring difference, but little else.
In Division 1B the big game of the day was at Abbotstown where Dublin put Limerick to the sword in the early stages, scoring 2-6 – the goals from Grace O’Shea and Aisling Maher – before Limerick got their first point with 22 minutes played.
A draw would have been enough for Limerick to hold off their opponents and reach a league final against Clare, but they never looked like getting it, despite Laura Southern goaling just before half-time.
Clare beat Offaly by 2-17 to 2-11 in Ennis but the Faithful County will stay in this division after Wexford travelled to Down and prevailed by 0-15 to 0-10.
In Division 2A, Kerry beat Derry and Meath just about got the point they needed to join the Kingdom in the final, with Carlow relegated.
Finally, Kildare’s two point win over Tyrone was a gift to Roscommon, who will now meet Armagh in the Division 3A decider.
RESULTS
DIVISION 3B Final
Mayo 2-12 Monaghan 1-6
DIVISION 1A
Kilkenny 2-18 Antrim 1-12
Tipperary 3-21 Waterford 1-8
Galway 0-18 Cork 1-9
DIVISION 1B
Dublin 2-17 Limerick 2-8
Clare 2-17 Offaly 2-11
Down 0-10 Wexford 0-15
DIVISION 2A
Derry 0-9 Kerry 4-14
Meath 0-17 Carlow 1-14
Laois 2-10 Westmeath 1-11
DIVISION 3A
Kildare 0-19 Tyrone 1-14
Armagh 6-17 Wicklow 0-8