Cork chose to play with the strong wind in the first half and Galway succumbed to two well-taken goals in the first half by O'Keeffe, playing in her last inter-county match. The first came after 17 minutes the second came after Sinead O'Callaghan's shot rebounded off the crossbar. This enabled Cork to build themselves a winning lead and hold on to survive the best challenges Galway offered. Only the impressive scoring form of Nevin kept Galway in touch, leaving them four points down at half time, 2–7 to 0–9. Ian O'Riordan wrote in
The Irish Times: Last year’s captain,
Linda Mellerick, was once again a marvel at midfield and even though she only once made the scoreboard, she created plenty of scores. Considering Mellerick had planned to retire after last season's victory, you just had to wonder where she continues to get her energy and enthusiasm.” Jim O'Sullivan, who described Mellerick’s performance as her “her best ever in the red and white”, wrote in the
Irish Examiner: Picture the scene: Cork, who could only manage a four-point (2–7 to 0–9) half time lead after playing with the driving wind and rain, were battling with their backs to the wall and a point in front with four minutes to go, as Galway threw everything at them in search of the winning goal. Yet, the Leesiders found reserves of strength to weather the storm... The double goal scorer O'Keeffe said: We always thought that there wouldn't be much more in it than a couple of goals. They kept coming at us alright but our back line was very strong and that made a big difference in the end. Winning again against Galway adds a little extra buzz because they're probably our greatest rivals at the moment.
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