The 2011 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship—known as the All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship in association with RTÉ Sport for sponsorship reasons— is the premier competition of the 2011 camogie season. It commenced on 11 June 2011 and ended with the final on 11 September. Eight county teams compete in the Senior Championship out of twenty-seven who compete overall in the Senior, Intermediate and Junior Championships. Wexford defeated Galway in the final, avenging a surprise 11-point defeat in the round-robin stage of the championship.2011 final Wexford 2-7 Galway 1-8 Report in Irish Examiner, Irish Independent , Irish Times , Camogie.ie, RTE Online , Preview in Irish Examiner Irish Times Irish Independent
Structure The eight teams played one another once, and receive 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw. The top four teams then contested the semi-finals.
Change of sponsor The Camogie Association lost its sponsor, the Gala retail chain, just six weeks before throw-in and arranged a partnership with RTÉ, “in Association with RTÉ sport,” instead.RTÉ online June 9 2011: Camogie Association reveal RTÉ partnership One outcome of the partnership was live updates on RTÉ radio were available for the first time as well as an improved two-minute highlights package on the Sunday game on RTÉ television. The finals were televised live and the semi-finals broadcast live online on RTÉ.ie.
Launch Camogie Association president Joan O'Flynn made an appeal for a heightened profile for women's sport at the launch of the championship. Sport is for all. Just as sport played by men is not for men only, sport played by women is not for women only. I am urging all sports fans to experience the skill and excitement of top class camogie action and to see our sport stars in action. An increase in women in decision making roles in sport, positive attitudes and actions towards women's sport and giving greater prominence and recognition to women's sporting achievements will all make a difference. It is vital for future female participation in sport that children get the opportunity to understand that women are major sports achievers and are accomplished sports stars in their own right.
At the captain's launch of the All Ireland final Camogie Association president Joan O'Flynn spoke out about the representation of females in sporting attire used in a crisps ad. She said "the Hunky Dory campaign, which features women wearing revealing crop tops in sport poses, was particularly ill-timed given that camogie's top teams will be starring in Croke Park this Sunday."Irish Independent Sept 7 2011: Hunky Dory ad sparks fury ahead of camogie final see also reaction from Kevin Myers Martina Devlin and on letters page
Preparations In the lead-in to the competition, there were management changes in Cork, where Joe O'Brien of Glanworth became manager, Tipperary where John Lillis became manager and Dublin where Denis Murphy became manager. Three members of the Clare management team resigned in advance of the championship.
Results Onfield, the Championship was the most open for several years with all of the leading contenders suffering a defeat in the first three rounds of the championship. In the opening round, 2010 defeated finalists Galway imposed a surprise 11-point defeat on the defending champions, Wexford.Galway 2-14 Wexford 0-9 report on RTÉ Online Irish Times Standard Galway Independent It was the second successive year Galway had defeated Wexford in the round-robin series, only to lose the All Ireland final to the same opponents on both occasions. The aggregate scoring average of 32.82 points per match was the highest in championship history. Cork had the highest scoring average with 22.71 points per match.
The 2010 Intermediate champions Offaly, managed by Joachim Kelly, were competing at senior level for the first timeKilkenny 4-17 Offaly 2-11 report on RTÉ Online Irish Times and Midland Tribune and achieved their first victory at this level against DublinOffaly 2-15 Dublin 0-14 report on Irish Independent Tullamore Tribune and followed it up with a victory over Clare in the final round. Clare, too, achieved a historic third round victory over Tipperary, their first since 1995 and their first in the senior championship since 1946.Clare 1-11 Tipperary 0-9 report on Irish Independent Clare Champion
From the beginning five teams were in contention for four semi-final slots. Despite an initial showing by Tipperary, who had last contested an All Ireland semi-final in 2008, at the end of the group stages the four teams who qualified for the semi-finals, Cork, Galway, Kilkenny and Wexford, were the same as for the previous two years 2009 and 2010.
Semi-finals In the semi-finals Wexford (2-11) defeated Cork (1-9) with goals by Ursula Jacob (30 mins) and Katrina Parrock (40 mins), while Cork's goal was scored by Katriona Mackey (54 mins).Wexford 2-11 Cork 1-9 Semi-final report in Sunday Independent , Irish Times on Galway (2-13) defeated Kilkenny with goals by Brenda Hanney (23 mins) and Tara Ruttledge (59 mins) while Kilkenny's goal was scored by Edel Maher (31 mins).Galway 2-13 Kilkenny 2-7 Semi-final report in Independent, , Galway Independent Galwayhurling.com Tuam Herald The attendance of 5,100 was a record for the semi-finals and higher than many All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship finals before 1994.
Final Turning point of the final was the 52nd-minute goal scored by Ursula Jacob. Eight out of 14 journalists at the final described it as among the best in the history of the game.2011 final Wexford 2-7 Galway 1-8 Report in Camogie.ie Connacht Tribune Enniscorthy Echo Galway Advertiser Irish Examiner, Irish Independent , Irish Times , Camogie.ie, RTE Online , Tuam Herald Wexford People Homecoming in Enniscorthy Echo Wexford People Preview in Irish Examiner Irish Times Irish Independent TV analyst and three times All Ireland medalist Therese O'Callaghan described it as “a dream goal, as good a goal as you are likely to see.” Former Galway hurling manager Cyril Farrell said during the course of his TV match commentary: "That's as good a goal as you will see anywhere, a beautiful cross field ball from Josie Dwyer, fantastic catch, back towards the goal, turn on the left, bang in to the back of the net. You won't see better than that anywhere. Everything is just on precision, on the dot. Catches it, turns left handed, bang to the back of the net, brilliant score." Galway manager Noel Finn said: “The goal came against the run of play. It was a sucker punch that late, they got their dander up. They were winning the breaks and when you're on the back foot it is very hard to try and push on.Connacht Tribune: So close and yet so far once again for Galway It brought the initiative back to Wexford after they had dominated the first half, having taken the initiative with a penalty scored by Una Leacy (4 minutes, but fallen three points behind after a snap goal scored by Tara Ruttledge (37 minutes). Galway led by 1–8 to 1–5 after 50 minutes, but failed to score in the last ten minutes. Finn pondered: “When you go 10 minutes without scoring, especially the last 10 minutes, you're not going to hold out. They got the break and they took their scores. When Tara got the goal I thought we would drive on because we were hurling well at that stage, but Wexford dug deep and got the result and its heartbreak again for us this year, I just thought when Wexford went in front they killed the game, that's experience, we have to learn, it's very hard to lose two finals. I said coming up here today we were well prepared, better than last year and if we played to our ability we would have got a result. Wexford hit us hard, and fair play to them they are All Ireland champions and we have to suffer the consequences of losing another All Ireland.”
Attendance & TV audience The attendance of 14,974 was the sixth highest ever for a camogie-only final day in Croke Park. An average TV audience of 218,000 tuned in for full match coverage on RTÉ sport (including half and full time analysis), recording a Nielsen rating of 5.22 and a market share of 23.14, the fifth highest viewership in the game's history. The final minutes of the game attracted a peak of 303,000 viewers. A further 3,312 viewed on live web feed.
Management reaction Winning manager JJ Doyle of Wexford said: ”What the Wexford teams achieved out there today I doubt ever will be achieved again. We have been in six competitions in two years and we won every one of them. I think they can lay claim to being one of the greatest camogie teams ever to play the game now. The amount of work that went in was phenomenal. We did it because Wexford loves camogie and loves GAA. They weren't letting us run at them. It was the way it was in Bellefield earlier in the year, a game that was talked about an awful lot. People had said a lot of things about Wexford camogie, especially the senior team. People questioned our girl's hunger. People questioned our desire, said that Galway were going to be hungrier than us. They questioned a lot of things about the team. We wanted to get the opportunity to answer them. Thankfully we have done that. It is very hard to put into words what I feel right now. I feel extremely proud of the girls, all 48 that have been training with us. The first half seemed to go on for hours and the second half just flew by. Then we got into injury time and I thought it would never end. Anyone looking at that out there today will see that Wexford camogie is made of very very stern stuff. You don't play for as many years as these girls have and not have the character. When Galway got the goal lesser teams would have buckled. I have learned a lot about the girls and they have learned a lot about themselves.” The losing manager Noel Finn of Galway stood down on the Sunday night of the All-Ireland final: I am very, very disappointed. Last year was hard to take but losing again today was devastation. The girls are devastated in there. We all are. Sport can be cruel, great when you win, very very hard to take when you lose. Scrappy first half. Two points downat half time, I felt we were in the game. We came out with all guns blazing in the second half. When we went three points in front and I thought we would have pushed on. Instead Wexford came back at us. They got the scores and they finished us. It was very, very exciting there. Anyone could have won as it went down to the wire. After they got the goal they sort of pushed on.”
Media reaction Media coverage was generally favourable, praising the intensity and excitement of the game, sometimes at the expense of individual skill. Three times All Ireland medalist Therese O'Callaghan, a television analyst said “Galway did very little wrong today while her co-analyst Stellah Sinnott, a former Wexford manager said “the second half had everything you could look for in an All-Ireland final. What separated Wexford from them in the end was Ursula Jacob's goal.”
Diarmuid O'Flynn wrote in the Irish Examiner, “on such margins do big games turn.” Irish Examiner: Wexford dig deep to deny Tribe again, the Irish Independent reported: “like all true champions, JJ Doyle's side simply refused to yield” and the Irish Times noted “Tara Ruttledge had a shot for a point to give them a vital cushion but the sliotar rebounded off the upright across the face of goal and crucially there was no Galway player on hand to tap to the net. Had there been, that would surely have been game over.”