Galway shade Tipp to reach Division 1 camogie decider

A pointed free by Rebecca Hennelly in the eighth minute of injury time gave Galway a one-point win over an heroic and heartbroken Tipperary in the Littlewoods Ireland Camogie League in Ballinasloe - an outcome that sends the westerners through to the Division 1 final.

The free was a hotly-contested one by the Tipp management after Claire Hogan was adjudged to have charged into Sarah Dervan but referee John Dermody stuck to his guns and Hennelly held her nerve from outside the 45 and close to the sideline to hit the crucial score that gives Galway a place in the decider against Cork on 9 April.

It was dreadfully hard on the Tipp outfit, who had pushed the All-Ireland champions all the way in last year's championship semi-final, having previously done the same in the penultimate stages of the league against Kilkenny.

Two years ago, they produced a fantastic backs-to-the-wall effort to beat Galway and book a place in the league decider, only for Covid-19 to lead to the competition's cancellation.

Had they prevailed on this occasion, it would have been one for the annals as they played 55 of the 70 or so minutes with 14 players, 38 of them into a very strong wind, after having Casey Hennessy sent off following an altercation with Aoife Donohue. Like the definitive free, it was a call that did not meet with the approval of the Premier contingent.

Hennessy had already scored two point by that juncture and was a huge loss, while Cáit Devane had to be relocated further out the field as a result and Galway obviously had more cover defensively as a result.

It was the 47th introduction by Cathal Murray of the Sarsfields siblings Orlaith and Siobhán McGrath that turned the game on its head, however.

Two minutes later Orlaith went on a