Cork unleash full power against Laois

Cork ladies Football Sponsors Castlelands. Cork
4-14 Laois 0-6 Cork travel into the home territory of Laois on
Saturday last, to continue the three in a row All- Ireland dream.
Their first concern though was to topple the local Ladies and
progress to another TG4 final. They did so with consummate ease
after a sluggish start and now they are just one hour away from
treble glory. Who will meet them in the final will be awaited
with anticipation, the likelihood it will be Mayo the only team
to topple Cork in the last 3 years and should they meet what a
showdown that would be. Tyrone of course will have other ideas
and they have been impressive in the Championship to date, having
had a very good win over Armagh in the quarter final. Cork supporters
have not been afforded too many opportunities to travel to see
them play in the flesh, I suppose they have had the opportunities,
but with games in Wexford and Laois, the temptation has been to
watch them on TG4, rather than travel long journeys. When it comes
tot the final though it is a different story, Cork is a proud
county and no doubt clubs around the Co will be gearing up to
ensure that Cork will have the biggest support ever on All-Ireland
final day.

Every All-Ireland final at any level from underage to Senior is
an occasion to be savoured and no doubt the impending one will
be savoured to the full. Getting back. Getting back to Saturdays
game, Cork soaked up the early Laois pressure, mind you they could
easily have gone 2 goals behind in the opening 2 minutes, First
of all Eimear Fitzpatrick shot the opening point, with the goal
at her mercy . Laois won the ball from the kick out and when Tracy
Lawlor flicked the ball past Elaine Harte, Ciara Walsh came across,
with a timely interception to prevent a certain goal. Having weathered
that storm and everything Laois threw at them, Cork took over.
It took a tremendous run from player of the match Briege Corkery,
who came up from the back to shoot Cork’s opening point in the
9th minute and that was the signal for Cork to up the ante. The
decisive goal came from Deirdre O’Reilly, who is enjoying an exceptional
strike rate from her corner forward position. Valerie Mulcahy
back to her brilliant best, fisted another with a deft touch,
from Briege Corkery’s cross.

Laois were now in disarray and never recovered from these 2 body
blows. And while they did add 3 points before the break to trail
2-7 to 0-4 thy still had a hill to climb. That hill became a mountain,
soon after then break. Cork replaced Norita Kelly with Amanda
Murphy, who slotted into the forward line while Deirdre O’Reilly
moved to midfield. They continued their forward momentum, first
it was Laura Mc Mahon who waltzed through the Laois defence to
score a goal, emulating the feat of her brother Kevin who did
likewise against Meath. This was followed by another from Valerie
Mulcahy, who displayed her silken soccer skills before dispatching
to the net. Cork never let up and scored points at will, from
Amanda Murphy, Mary O’Connor Juliet Murphy and Nollaig Cleary.
What was impressive, was the form displayed by the entire Cork
team. Strong assured and composed in a defence marshalled by Angela
Walsh and Brid Stack dominant in midfield and lethal in attack,
that is a cocktail that is very difficult to stop. Cork did miss
some goal chances, 2 in particular from Nollaig Cleary, but she
has returned to her devastating best with her incisive runs so
exciting to watch.

Another noteworthy point, is that Cork had 8 different players
on the score sheet and that is most encouraging.

Cork Elaine Harte, Ciara Walsh, Angela Walsh, Rena Buckley. Briege
Corkery, 0-2 Brid Stack, Linda Barrett. Norita Kelly. Juliet Murphy
0-3.Nollaig Cleary, 0-3 Laura McMahon, 1-0 Geraldine O’Flynn,
Valerie Mulcahy, 2-2 Mary O’Connor, 0-2 Deirdre O’Reilly 1-0.
Subs used Amanda Murphy, 0-2 Mairead Kelly, Rhona Buckley

Special deal for clubs for TG4 All-Ireland final Each club will
receive 10 Complimentary tickets upon a group order.

Group Rates ( for U16’s) min 10 as follows: €5 per person plus
1 adult @ €5 per group of 10. All group tickets to be booked in
advance from the Office Family tickets 2 adults @ €25 each 2 children
@ €5 each. Normal prices Adults €25 Students / OAP €10 Under 14
€ 8 All schools & clubs that avail of Group Rates will be entered
into a prize draw. 1st A full set of gear – jerseys , socks &
shorts. 2nd A set of Jerseys 3rd 10 O’Neills Footballs 4th 5 O’Neill
Footballs Counties where Central receive orders from 10 clubs
or more will have those clubs entered into a separate draw where
one club will get cheque refunded