Pride and passion in Galway camogie may have been restored at Pairc Uí Rínn on Saturday afternoon, but that will be of little consolation to Sharon Glynn's charges. Simply, they should have bagged both championship points in this one or, at the very least, earned a draw.

The post-mortem on Galway's one-point first round championship defeat to Cork began immediately after the final whistle, with the debate losing none of its fervour when Galway's loyal travelling supporters pulled over for sustenance in Kennedy's  of Charleville on the long journey home an hour or so later.

Galway had led 0-8 to 1-2 at the interval, an opportunistic ninth minute goal from midfielder Rachel Moloney keeping the Leesiders in touch. While this lead did change hands on several occasions in the second half, Galway had come strong in the final quarter to lead 0-13 to 2-6 with just four minutes remaining.

Their downfall though was a plethora of missed opportunities in the closing minutes, with midfielder Aine Hillary, now operating at full-forward, coming very close to goaling with a ground stroke on 57 minutes.

Galway clocked up four wides in all in this final period, with the lively Lourda Kavanagh missing a free before Veronica Curtin spurned another two chances. It was as tense a finish as it was close. The Tribeswomen, for whom Regina Glynn was outstanding, truly deserved to win this, but those elusive winning scores just wouldn't come.

Amazingly, the turning point in the contest was not revealed until the 59th minute. Galway were awarded a free inside the Cork half and Kavanagh stepped up to take it. As she did so, the Galway management hastily decided to make a change before the placed ball was struck, with the petite Caroline Kelly coming on for Hillary.

Kavanagh subsequently took the free, it dropped short, imposing Cork full-back Rosarie Holland put up her hand and cleared. In the ensuing counter-attack, speedy substitute Briege Corkery set up Jennifer O'Leary for the equalising point. The game was now in injury time and even with a draw Galway seemed hard done by.

Cork though weren't finished. And the parapet opened for Galway. On the resultant puck-out, the home side again won possession. This time, it was another substitute to take the game to the visitors as Angela Walsh struck to give Cork an unlikely lead and, arguably, an undeserved victory.

Some pundits afterwards pointed to the missed chances in the closing minutes, more questioned the substitution of the experienced Hillary before that 59th minute free was taken, while others just put it down to sheer bad luck. To be honest, it was an accumulation of all three.

The latter, of course, manifested itself in the two Cork goals. Galway had dominated the first quarter, forcing the pace and generally looking as if they would steamroll Fiona O'Driscoll's side. With the aid of the breeze, they led 0-5 to 1-0, the rampant Lourda Kavanagh hitting four (three frees) while the equally impressive Brenda Kerins scored a super point from the wing.

Yet for all that, they only led by two points. Following a poor sideline ball, a disappointing aspect of Galway's game, Cork returned the sliotar to the penalty area in the ninth minute. Galway rather untidily cleared, only for the oncoming Rachel Moloney to pull first time and find the Galway net.

Cork added a point to their meagre tally in the 17th minute to reduce the arrears to the minimum, but Galway were showing plenty of determination, lots of character and an abundance of skill. Veronica Curtin, quiet by her own high standards for the most part, scored a neat point, before she won a free on 22 minutes, which Kavanagh duly converted.

To be honest, with the right sort of ball, Galway's full forward line looked like they could have the measure of the Rebels full-back line, with Kerins, in particular, very effective. Her marker Niamh Bowles only response was to foul Kerins time and time again and how the Cork corner back did not receive a warning in the first half was puzzling.

That said, Kerins was winning the frees and in injury time she secured another. Kavanagh converted and Galway led 0-8 to 1-1. Cork did reduce the deficit with a point four minutes into injury time, through a Jennifer O'Leary free,  but the most striking aspect of the move was when centre-half forward Gemma O'Connor picked up the fearless Therese Maher's hurl and threw it up field 20 yards.

Cork's second goal arrived three minutes into the second half. The home side began with a converted O'Leary free, before captain Elaine Burke looked to reduce the arrears even further with an effort from an acute angle. When her shot hit the upright, one would have thought this was Galway's day, but not so. The sliotar fell straight into the path of the on-rushing Stephanie Dunlea and her first time shot beat a luckless Gannon. Cork now led 2-3 to 0-8.

The pace increased and scores were exchanged at will, with Kavanagh and O'Leary both converting two frees each before the hard-working Aoife Lynsky finished off a sweet move on 48 minutes to tie the match again at 0-11 to 2-5. A minute later, Kavanagh split open the Cork defence to put the Tribeswomen into the lead for the third time in the contest.

Galway were beginning to gain the upper hand, mainly due to a number of switches made by Glynn and her cohorts. Corner back Nicola Gavin and half-back Ailbhe Kelly switched berths, Brenda Hanney moved into midfield, Curtin was now out at centre-half forward and Hillary was holding the inside line.

Unfortunately, the final delivery into the inside forwards was a little too weighted at times, with the corner forwards virtually forced to retrieve the ball from the end line. It just gave the Cork backs that extra moment to regroup.

The final minutes or so were tense. Galway missed their chances while at the other end, somewhat ironically, Cork scored their first point from play through Emer Dillon on 54 minutes. When Curtin secured Galway the lead again two minutes later, visiting supporters held their breath in the hope that Galway would register their first championship victory over the Leesiders since 1996. Sadly, it was not to be.

Considering Galway had been trounced by Cork the last number of years, this was a major step forward for the side. They are now competing again at the highest level and for that Glynn, Damien Coleman, PJ Molloy and Martin Naughton should take a bow.

Valuable lessons will be learned from this defeat. Wexford may just feel the backlash when they arrive in Ballinasloe on July 30. A win for Galway there could possibly put them straight through to the All-Ireland semi-final. In truth, the championship is only beginning in earnest.

Galway: S. Gannon; R. Glynn, S. Cahalan, N. Gavin; L. Lally, T. Maher, A. Kelly; A. Hillary, C. Glennon; A. Lynsky (0-1), B. Hanney, L. Kavanagh (0-9, 0-7 frees); B. Kerins (0-1), V. Curtin (0-2), O. Kilkenny.
Subs: C. Kelly for Hillary (59 mins).

Cork: A. Murray; N. Bowles, R. Holland, R. Buckley; A. O¹Regan, M. O¹Connor, A. Geary; V. Harris, R. Moloney (1-0); E. Dillon (0-1), G. O¹Connor, J. O¹Leary (0-6, 0-5 frees); U. O¹Donoghue, S. Dunlea (1-0), E. Burke.
Subs: A. Walsh (0-1) for O¹Donoghue (48 mins.); B. Corkery for Moloney (58 mins.); E. Watson for Burke (62 mins.).

Referee: F. McNamara (Clare).