Ladies Football round-up

Ladies Football round-up

THE draw for the semi-finals of the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies senior football championship has pitted holders Cork against beaten Connacht finalists Mayo.

Two of the game’s big-hitters will collide in a repeat of the 2007 final between the two teams, as Cork continue on their seemingly unstoppable march towards a fifth successive crown.

Cork and last year’s beaten semi-finalists Mayo will lock horns at McDonagh Park in Nenagh next Saturday (6.0), with the Dublin-Monaghan game fixed for September 5 at a venue yet to be confirmed.

Cork were simply superb in their 4-23 to 0-6 demolition of Kildare in Saturday’s quarter-final at Nowlan Park in Kilkenny.

Captain Mary O’Connor scored an early goal to set the winners on their way and the Rebelettes went on to lead by 1-12 to 0-4 at half-time.

The champions were magnificent after half-time, outscoring outclassed Kildare by 3-11 to 0-2 in the second half, as Deirdre O’Reilly, Rhona Buckley and substitute Laura McMahon added further goals.

Noelle Earley, who never stopped battling for the Lilywhites, kicked Kildare’s first score of the second half ten minutes from time.

Beaten Leinster finalists Kildare were denied a late goal when Cork goalkeeper Elaine Harte kept out Aisling Jennings in the closing stages.

Overall, Cork showed no ill-effects of a seven-week layoff since the Munster final victory against Kerry and it will take a very good team to stop them annexing yet another title.

In the first game played at the Kilkenny venue, Dublin ran out 1-13 to 2-6 winners against beaten Munster finalists Cork.

Leinster champions Dublin fell at the quarter-final hurdle last year, against Tyrone, but made no mistake on this occasion as they recorded a four-point win.

Dublin had not played for five weeks since winning their provincial final and that lengthy layoff seemed to be a factor as Kerry started the game really well.

The Kingdom surged two points clear early on and Dublin had outstanding goalkeeper Cliodhna O’Connor to thank for two superb saves which denied Mags O’Donoghue and Debra Murphy.

But Kerry fell away after that and after notching three points in the opening ten minutes, they failed to score again the remainder of the half.

Kim Flood’s 17th minute goal sent Dublin 1-4 to 0-3 clear and they went on to lead by 1-9 to 0-3 at half-time.

Dublin were never unduly troubled in the second half although Kerry sub Joanne Brosnan made a real impact and bagged 1-1 after being introduced.

Finishing strongly, Kerry added a second goal before the end as Mags O’Donoghue converted a penalty three minutes from time but Dublin held out to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2005.

Meanwhile, Cork retained the Aisling McGing memorial championship with a 3-11 to 0-6 victory against Dublin at Semple Stadium in Thurles on Saturday.

Full-forward Katie Sheehan was the star of the show for Cork, who captured the title for the third successive year.

Sheehan scored 1-8 while Jenny Luddy and Gráinne Lucey scored the other goals as Cork romped to a comfortable win.

Luddy’s late goal was the crucial score of the first half as Cork went in 1-4 to 0-4 in front, before the Rebelettes outscored the Sky Blues by 2-7 to 0-2 in a one-sided second half.

 

ends

 

Results:

 

TG4 All-Ireland Ladies SFC quarter-finals:

Dublin 1-13 Kerry 2-6.
Cork 4-23 Kildare 0-6.

 

Aisling McGing Memorial championship final:
Cork 3-11 Dublin 0-6.

 

***

 

Cork scorers: V Mulcahy 0-7, D O’Reilly 1-3, M O’Connor & L McMahon 1-2 each, R Buckley 1-0, C O’Sullivan & N Cleary 0-2 each, A O’Shea, J Murphy, A Walsh, G O’Flynn & A.M. Walsh 0-1 each.
Kildare scorers: N Earley 0-2, A Jennings, A Herbert, D Gately & T Noone 0-1 each.

 

***

 

Dublin scorers: S Ahern 0-5 (2f), K Flood 1-0, A McGuinness & L Davey 0-2 each, E Kelly, M Nevin, C Barrett & N McEvoy 0-1 each.
Kerry scorers: J Brosnan 1-1, M O’Donoghue 1-0, L Ní Mhuircheartaigh 0-2, L Scanlon, S Houlihan & P Dennehy (f) 0-1 each.

 

***

(Aisling McGing)

 

Cork scorers: K Sheehan 1-8 (0-3f), J Luddy 1-1, G Lucey 1-0, G Kearney 0-1, E Ahern 0-1.
Dublin scorers: T Molohan 0-3 (1f), S Denvir, H Cliffe & O Egan 0-1 each.

 

***

TG4 Ladies All-Ireland SFC semi-final draw.
Cork v Mayo.
Dublin v Monaghan.

 

Upcoming fixtures:

 

Next Saturday, August 29.

 

TG4 Ladies All-Ireland intermediate football championship semi-final.
Clare v Waterford, 4.15 @ McDonagh Park, Nenagh.

 

TG4 Ladies All-Ireland senior football championship semi-final.
Cork v Mayo, 6.00 @ McDonagh Park, Nenagh.

 

Saturday, September 5.

 

TG4 Ladies All-Ireland intermediate football championship semi-final.
Longford v Fermanagh, TBC.

 

TG4 Ladies All-Ireland senior football championship semi-final.
Dublin v Monaghan, TBC.

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