This is one to really whet the appetite, with Galway having the added motivation of looking to gain a measure of revenge for losing against Tipperary in the Very League Division 1A final at Croke Park in April by a point. They had also gone down by a goal at the Premiers’ fortress, The Ragg, and had their colours lowered at the same venue the year before too.
That league final success was Tipperary’s first national title since they completed the league and championship double 20 years ago. It looks like Denis Kelly’s charges have continued to build, and they got through the group stages with a perfect record, confirming themselves as one of the form teams in the country by taking out Kilkenny and Waterford along the way.
Galway were workmanlike early on, drawing with Wexford, but produced their best performance of the summer in the quarter-final defeat of last year’s finalists Waterford.
Referee: Liz Dempsey (Kilkenny)
Intermediate championship semi-finals
Kerry v Kilkenny, FBD Semple Stadium, 4pm
Live on Camogie Association YouTube
These teams had their group encounter in Lixnaw and it was the visitors that emerged victorious by eight points. The Stripeywomen were held to a share of the spoils by Dublin at Páirc Lachtain but were comfortable against the rest of the opposition to emerge directly to the last four.
Kerry lost to Meath in the last group game but put that behind them with a brilliant quarter-final win against Galway’s second string. There was never much between the sides but it was notable that the Kingdom were never behind.
Referee: Brian Kearney (Kildare)
Cork v Offaly, FBD Semple Stadium, 6pm
Live on Camogie Association YouTube
These teams crossed swords in Group 1 and the Rebels escaped with a one-point victory in the Cork Camogie Grounds in the second week of June. The winners, who already have the Very League Division 2B title in the bank, went on to conclude the round-robin phase without a blemish to earn direct access to the semi-finals.
In contrast, Offaly needed to beat Westmeath by five points to cement their berth in the final six and a couple of goals from Becky Bryant earned them a stunning quarter-final triumph over a Meath side that only lost to Derry in last year’s All-Ireland final in a replay.
Referee: Karol Collins (Galway)
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