Cork Easily Dispose of Brave Royals

 

TG4 All-Ireland champions Cork went goal crazy against Meath this afternoon, hammering the Royal County by 40 points despite a brave display from a very young Meath side.

Cork 7-22

Meath 0-3

Cork, beaten Munster finalists against Kerry, got their campaign back on track in comprehensive fashion to set up a mouthwatering quarter-final clash with Galway on August 15, a fixture that will be a repeat of the Tesco National League Division 1 final.

Áine O’Sullivan wasn’t named on the Cork starting line-up but as boss Eamonn Ryan shuffled his pack before throw-in, the Beara player came in and made a big impact, helping herself to 3-5 from play to earn the player of the match award.

Valerie Mulcahy, skipper Ciara O’Sullivan, Rhona Ní Bhuachalla and Orlagh Farmer also netted for the rampant Rebelettes at Semple Stadium.

Victoria Wall was Meath’s sole scorer on the day, as the Dunboyne player notched three points from play.

Wall scored a youthful Meath side’s only first half point but Cork were 2-11 to 0-1 clear at the break.

The floodgates opened as early as the third minute when O’Sullivan netted the first of her treble.

Ní Bhuachalla scored Cork’s second goal in the 16th minute and the damage could have been far worse for Meath in the opening half but for a trio of fine saves by goalkeeper Monica McGuirk.

Cork could also afford the luxury of a missed first half penalty, when Mulcahy rattled her effort off the crossbar before the Leesiders botched the follow-up.

But Cork piled on the misery for Meath after half-time, when Ciara O’Sullivan opened the second half scoring with a goal.

Farmer and Mulcahy bagged goals within three minutes of each other and a late brace from Áine O’Sullivan completed her hat-trick.

Wall provided token response with a brace of second half points, as Meath had to wait until seven minutes from time before opening their second half account.

It’s been a difficult period for the Royal County following the resignation of former manager Diane O’Hora following the TG4 Leinster semi-final defeat to Westmeath.

Jenny Rispin filled the void as player manager but with a host of young and emerging players in the Meath ranks, Cork had too much craft, class and experience for their opponents.

 

Scorers for Cork: Á O’Sullivan 3-5, V Mulcahy 1-5 (0-2f), C O’Sullivan 1-3, R Ní Bhuachalla 1-2, O Farmer 1-0, G O’Flynn (2f) & A Hutchings 0-3 each, O Finn 0-1.

 

Scorers for Meath: V Wall 0-3.

 

CORK: M O’Brien; M Ambrose, B Stack, A Barrett; V Foley, D O’Reilly, G O’Flynn; B Corkery, A Walsh; C O’Sullivan, A Hutchings, O Finn; V Mulcahy, A O’Sullivan, R Ní Bhuachalla.

 

Subs: O Farmer for Corkery (h.t.), R Phelan for Stack (38), M O’Callaghan for Walsh (41), M Corkery for Foley (41), J O’Shea for O’Flynn (46).

 

MEATH: M McGuirk; M Lyons, J Scanlon, S Ennis; A Guy, P Dunne, K Flynn; K Byrne, N Lister; E O’Neill, S Monaghan, M Thynne; V Wall, M Farrelly, S Powderly.

 

Subs: A Bennett for O’Neill (40), K Nesbitt for Farrelly (43), H Heskin for Lyons (43).

 

Referee: G Carmody (Mayo)