Cork boss Ger Manley bemoans 'shocking' ref calls
Manley's side were targeting a first three-in-a-row since the early 1970s but were pipped by an injury-time Carrie Dolan free after Orlaith Cahalane's goal had sensationally levelled the game with a goal on 60 minutes.
It had been a rousing second half display from the defending champions, whose situation looked bleak at half-time, trailing by five points and being reduced to 14 players after Hannah Looney was shown a straight red card just before the interval for striking out at Dolan.
Manley felt the red card call was "harsh" though he had other gripes, in particular citing a clear push on Cork keeper Amy Lee in the lead-up to a first half Galway point.
"Devastated really. I thought a lot of decisions went against us," Manley told RTÉ Sport after the game.
"I thought Justin (Heffernan) made a couple of strange decisions and there was a point in it in the end. "Amy Lee was pushed in the first half, Clodagh (Finn) got pushed near the end.
"Even the winning free - which was a super strike from Carrie Dolan to win it - Gemma tells me it wasn't a free at all. It was hard to see it from our side.
"But look, I can't say much about him really. Some of the decisions that went against us were awful.
"You lose by a point, you do look at them. You might prefer to be beaten by 20.
'Devastated really. I thought a lot of decisions went against us' - Cork manager Ger Manley bemoaned "strange" refereeing calls after his side were pipped by a point in the All-Ireland senior camogie final pic.twitter.com/EJjMdDsTXf
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) August 10, 2025
"One thing I'll say about our team is they fought so hard.
"Galway were definitely on top in the first half, brought great physicality, great intensity. But I think we matched them in the second half. With the 14 players, I thought we did a bit better. An awful thing to say but... very disappointed for our gang."
On the game's most significant call, the sending off of Looney just before half-time, Manley felt the referee could have shown more restraint.
With play stalled, the Cork midfielder was shunted in the back by Dolan, who was trotting across to take a sideline cut, and then struck out at the Galway captain, lifting her hands in the process.
HT: Galway 1-09 Cork 0-07
Cork's Hannah Looney sees red and the Leesiders will play the entire second-half down a player
Watch on @rte2 and @rteplayer https://t.co/ZfZ9mA9XTY #SundayGame pic.twitter.com/MG2Cdx4XiQ
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) August 10, 2025
"She was in front of me but I couldn't see it. But Jesus, he went straight for the red card. I was kind of going, 'chill out a small bit'.
"She's a brilliant player, Hannah. She's not a dirty player. She's a physical player, she's a hard runner. A huge loss to our game. I thought Saoirse McCarthy had a stormer in the second half.
"If you see it again... very harsh I thought. There was nobody dead or anything. Was it a strike of the hurley? I thought they just collided.
"I am disappointed with some of the decisions. I thought some of the decisions that went against us were shocking."
The Cork manager insisted the 'three-in-a-row' talk - which Ailish O'Reilly said had "riled" Galway beforehand - didn't affect their preparation in the lead-up.
"We didn't talk about it really. The outside people spoke about it," Manley said.
The Cork manager expressed the hope that some of his more experienced charges would return for another tilt at the title.
"It's their fifth (final) in a row. They set the standards. Galway pushed themselves to get up to it and they were better than us today.
"The camogie standard is getting there. The top five or six teams, there's not much between us at all.
"There's plenty of talent there. There's a lot of girls there with plenty of mileage on the clock. I hope they stay on.
"What they've done for Cork camogie and for camogie in general, to put it on the map. That's a great final today. We died out there. They gave it everything. So hopefully they'll be back."
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