Camogie round-up: Tipperary secure final berth

Tipperarywill end a 15-year wait to appear in a national senior final when they line out against Galway in the Very Camogie League Division 1A decider at Croke Park on 14 April.

Denis Kelly's charges accounted for Clare by 4-19 to 0-07 at Cusack Park to confirm their qualification as table-toppers on score difference, and with Galway getting the better of All-Ireland champions Cork by 0-14 to 0-09 at Duggan Park, the Tribeswomen are 70 minutes away from joining an elite crop of teams to garner top division honours for a third season on the trot.

Tipp have had a number of agonising reverses when closing in on a return to the big stage but with a youthful Clare side losing their four games to this juncture, anything but a victory for the visitors would have been a huge shock.

And that was how events unfolded, with first-half goals from Grace O’Brien and Karen Kennedy putting the issue to bed by the interval, at which stage the Blue and Golds held sway by 2-08 to 0-03.

It was one-way traffic in the second half as Tipp played with freedom. Eimear Heffernan raised another green flag before O’Brien nabbed her second major.

Thus ends a famine since the county’s representatives lost the league final in 2009, despite the best efforts of future All-Star Mary Ryan, who made her first appearance of the season after illness and remains an integral part of the panel this term.

The result confirmed Clare’s relegation to Division 1B.

Losses to Tipp meant that Galway and Cork were essentially in a winner-takes-all clash, although a draw would have been sufficient for the home team.

In the end, apart from conceding the first score from a free to Amy O’Connor, who finished with five points, the Maroons held the upper hand.

Carrie Dolan punished