Camogie Championship round-up:Wexford will meet Cork in the Gala All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship Final on September 9th after two stirring semi-finals before a crowd in excess of 2,000 at Nowlan Park, Kilkenny, on Saturday.
Kate Kelly was a towering force in Wexford's 2-18 to 0-14 win over Galway in the first semi-final with the midfielder scoring 1-11.
Kelly's goal came midway through the first half after a pass from fellow goalscorer Michelle Hearne to hold a 2-3 to 0-5 lead at this stage.
Galway responded with points from Ann-Marie Hayes, Lourda Kavanagh, Veronica Curtin and Jessica Gill (2) to leave two points between the sides at the interval with Wexford holding a 2-7 to 0-11 advantage.
Wexford came back strongly in the second half with Kelly in tremendous form and was aided in her efforts by Ursula Jacob, Rosemary Breen and second-half substitute Bróna Furlong.
In the second semi-final Cork advanced to their seventh decider in eight years, thanks to a 2-11 to 0-9 win against a dogged Tipperary side.
An Angela Walsh goal ensured that Cork held a 1-6 to 0-3 interval lead and although Tipperary staged a spirited second-half performance thanks to the efforts of Eimear McDonnell and Clare Grogan, an Una O'Donoghue goal for Cork with 12 minutes remaining was the killer blow as it put nine points between the sides.
Tipperary cut the gap to seven points thanks to scores from McDonnell and Grogan but Cork held firm in the closing eight minutes and an Orla Cotter point sealed the win.
Yesterday Antrim were crowned All-Ireland Minor B champions after they exerted revenge for last year's final loss with a 3-18 to 5-3 win over Down at Páirc Esler, Newry.
SCORERS:
WEXFORD (2-18): K Kelly 1-11 (0-6 frees), M Hearne 1-0, U Leacy 0-2, RM Breen 0-2, U Jacob 0-2, B Furlong 0-1. GALWAY (0-14): V Curtin 0-6 (three frees, two 45s), J Gill 0-5 (three frees), T Maher (0-1), AM Hayes (0-1), L Kavanagh 0-1.
CORK (2-11): J O'Leary 0-5 (four frees), A Walsh 1-1, U O'Donoghue 1-1, O Cotter 0-2, R Buckley 0-1 (free), G O'Connor 0-1. TIPPERARY (0-9): C Grogan 0-6 (three frees), E McDonnell 0-2, J Horan 0-1.
ANTRIM (3-18): R McCarry 2-4 (0-2 frees), C Carey 1-1, L McAleese 0-4, S Graham 0-3, J Campbell 0-2, O McCall 0-2, M Convery 0-1, E McMullan 0-1. DOWN (5-3): SL Carr 3-1 (0-1, frees), A McCarthy 1-0, L McPolin 1-0, L Hughes 0-1, K Tinnelly 0-1.
