Kavanagh inspires Galway juniors

An overjoyed Ann Dolan had the honour of accepting the first All-Ireland title of the summer on behalf of Galway after a truly entertaining junior camogie final at Croke Park yesterday.

The wintry conditions didn't seem to bother centre forward Lourda Kavanagh who stirred up a hurricane of her own by scoring 1-9 and she gave Tipperary all sorts of problems. Galway moved straight in front with the strong wind behind them and never looked like surrendering that lead for long throughout the 60 minutes.

Alice Deane was keeping the Tipperary deficit to a minimum before Sheena Howard burst through for a surprise goal against the flow of play which left Galway trailing for the only time in the match. Moments later Brenda Daniels did the same and from then on Galway looked fitter, more organised and more productive.

Just a point down at the interval, 1-6 to 1-5, Tipperary had no response to Galway's firepower in the second half but, to their credit, they were never overrun. Kavanagh extended the lead before a momentary lapse in Galway's concentration allowed Grainne Shanahan to send in Tipperary's second goal. Joanne Ryan then levelled with 15 minutes to go.

That was the final wake-up call for Galway as Kavanagh and then Sandra Tannian fired home a goal each. Tipperary added a few more points through Philomena Fogarty and even forced Aoife Connolly to pull off a few acrobatic saves in front of the Galway net but at that stage it was asking for a miracle to expect a last-minute reprive.

Galway: A Connolly, A Dolan, R Broderick, A Kelly, F Healy, M Glynn, C Murray (0-1), V Sweeney, A Lynskey (0-1), L Kavanagh (1-9), B Daniels (1-0), S Tannian (1-0). Sub: A Murray for C Murray (48 mins).

Tipperary: L Ryan, S Cusack, M Corcoran, T Bourke, N Connolly, P Fogarty (0-2), A Deane (0-4), A McDermott, J Ryan (0-1), S Howard (1-1), G Shanahan (1-1), N Dwyer (0- 1). Sub: F Loughnane for Bourke (52 mins).

Referee: Chaitriona Mhic Alastair.