by JACKIE CAHILL National League champions Kilkenny completed their Gala All-Ireland senior camogie campaign with a comfortable 4-13 to 1-7 win against hosts Dublin at Ballyboden on Sunday afternoon. Kilkenny collected a third victory from six outings but it was not enough to secure a coveted place in the last four of the competition as Wexford and Tipperary had booked their places in the semi-finals on Saturday, joining already-qualified Galway and Cork. Although Kilkenny's game was effectively a 'dead rubber', the Cats still showed plenty of appetite and they will look to finish their season on a high when they face Dublin again on August 16 in the Leinster final. Playing against the breeze, Kilkenny still managed to open up a 2-4 to 0-0 advantage after just twenty minutes, the goals supplied by the excellent Aoife Neary after seven minutes and Elaine Aylward four minutes later. At half-time, Kilkenny led by 2-4 to 0-2 but Dublin showed good battling qualities and hit back with a goal from Louise O'Hara. The visitors responded with some excellent scores from Marie Dargan, Ann Dalton and SinÈad Millea but the introduction of Aisling Jordan injected some life into the Dublin challenge and she scored two nice points from play. However, that brace of scores provided only brief respite for the Sky Blues as Nearyís second goal and a late strike from Anna Farrell put an impressive gloss on the scoreline for Kilkenny. Neary finished as Kilkenny's top scorer with 2-1 while Louise OíHara was Dublin's outstanding forward with a 1-2 haul. Kilkenny also had fine performances from Kelly Ann Cottrell and goalkeeper Catriona Ryan while Dublinís best performer on the day was right-half-back Andrea Fitzpatrick. Tipperaryís draw against Galway at Semple Stadium on Saturday had eliminated Kilkenny from the championship race. Any sort of result for Tipperary against Galway was good enough although the Premier County will be disappointed not to have taken maximum points. Galwayís lethal Jessica Gill, who had been substituted, was brought back on two and a half minutes into stoppage time to convert a penalty which salvaged a 1-14 to 2-11 draw for the Tribeswomen. Tipp led by 1-6 to 0-7 at half-time, the goal courtesy of Geraldine Kinnane who handpassed the ball to the net in the 17th minute. With 12 minutes remaining, Claire Grogan set up top scorer Emily Hayden for Tipperaryís second goal and the same player was denied another major soon after by a smart Susan Earner save. Tipp were clinging onto a three-point lead deep in stoppage time but there was a late twist as Gill added a goal to the three points she had collected earlier. Meanwhile, defending champions Wexford booked their place in the last four with a facile victory against Limerick in Kilmallock on Saturday. The Model County lost their opening two matches in the competition but bounced back impressively with four successive wins. Red-hot Una Leacy and Ursula Jacob were in scintillating form against Limerick and the deadly inside forwards weighed in with 2-8 apiece as Wexford racked up 7-27. Bridget Curran, a late call-up in place of the absent Katrina Parrock, justified her inclusion with a 2-2 haul while ¡ine Codd was also in good scoring form as she notched 1-2. Limerick responded with 0-4 during the game, Eileen OíBrien supplying 0-3 from placed balls with Tara Power notching the only score from play for the hosts. In other news, Kilkenny collected a fourth successive All-Ireland U16 title with a 3-7 to 2-5 victory against Cork in the curtain-raiser to the Tipp-Galway match on Saturday. Tweet

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