14 October 2003 All the latest news from Cork Share this Article 0 0 0 Shares! 0 Shares! Ladies Football By Fr. Liam Kelleher AIB Munster Club championship – All three Cork Clubs advance to Munster Finals. The 3 Cork clubs engaged in the Semi Finals of the Munster Club Championship were all successful at the weekend and qualified for their respective Munster Finals this coming weekend. Senior Semi-final Donoughmore 3-10 Southern Gaels Kerry 3-6. Playing in front of their own loyal supporters at Lackabawn on Sunday, Donoughmore defeated Southern Gaels of Kerry to reach their 8th Munster final in a row., It was all one way traffic in the first half with the home team on top. Goals from Mary O’Connor, Stephanie Dunlea and capt Julie Murphy helped them to a 3-5 to 0-1 interval lead. The Kerry girls star forward Kacey O’Driscoll missed a penalty on the stroke of half-time. it was a different story in the 2nd half when Southern Gaels with 2 goals from Miss 0’Driscoll and a goal from Deirdre Corridan fought their way back into the game. The local girls held out despite missing a penalty. Scorers for Donoughmore Juliet Murphy 1-4 Mary O’Connor 1-2 Stephanie Dunlea 1-0 Aisling Barrett, 0-1 Louise Murphy 0-1 Aisling O’Connor 0-1. Intermediate Semi-Final Naomh Aban Advance. Naomh Aban 3-9 Athea Limerick 0-3. Played in Farranfore in Kerry, Naomh Aban with a tremendous 2nd half performance overcame the challenge of the Limerick girls from Athea. In the first half of this game both teams were evenly matched and the Cork girls held a slender 0-4 to 0-2 lead a the short whistle. Naomh Aban upped the tempo of their game in the 2nd period and ran out easy winners in the end. Scorers. Cait Ni Loinsig 1-3, Lisa Ni Shuibne, 1-1 Caoimhe Ni Chriodain, 0-2 Joanne Ni Charthaigh 1-0 Maire Ni Chorcora 0-1 Eimear Ni Chonaill 0-1 Ailbhe Ni Loinsigh 0-1. Junior Semi Final. Easy for Gabriel Rangers. Gabriel Rangers 7-17 Ardfinnan Tipperary 0-8 Played at Clonakilty this game proved to be the mis match of the weekend with Gabriel Rangers in top in every department. They led a by 4-14 to 0-2 at the break and they cruised through the 2nd half to set up a meeting with Austin Stacks of Kerry next Sunday. Scorers. Claire O’Brien 2-6, Nollaig Cleary 2-3, Deirdre Cotter 1-3 Michelle Creedon 1-0 Elaine Cotter 1-0 Deirdre Ward 0-2, Aoife Coghlan 0-2 Emer Cleary o-1. Strength in depth in Cork The three wins shows the strength in depth of Cork ladies football at Club level. It speaks volumes of the progress made in the past number of years and the work being put in by the various clubs. Looking at the composition of each of the 3 teams, all contain a blend of experience and youth and this gives great balance. The School of excellence, the Summer camps and the upsurge of Cork underage teams, have all played their part, but it is the commitment put in at local level by the club officials who have guided their players in the right direction that is the greatest contributory factor. Two years hence the emergence of three Cork teams from Munster set the standard. Rockban in just their 3rd year competing at adult level, won the Junior crown and went on to claim National honours. Donoughmore got a real monkey off their backs when they defeated Balymacarbry of Waterford for the first time and they went on to win the All-Ireland crown defeating Ballyboden/St Enda’s in that historic day in Birr. The third Munster Champions St Val’s another relatively young club won the Munster Intermediate title and lost out to Ulster champions Donaghmoyne in the Semi-Final. Of course the standard was set by Naomh Aban and Rockchapel before them, when they tasted success at National level at Junior and Intermediate. Naomh Aban Naomh Aban, seemed to have lost their way a little bit for a few years, they had a young and exciting minor team, gladly the spirit has returned and they look set for glory again, with most of the old players back to their best and new stars like Katie Lynch, Lisa McSweeny, Anita Thompson and Carmel McCarthy have added an exciting dimension to their set up and these have blended in well with Fiona O’Sullivan, Caoimhe Creedon and Marie Corkery etc. They take on Cappawhite of Tipperary in the Intermediate decider and they knocked out a fancied Beara team last year in the Junior Championship. The game is fixed for 1pm on Saturday with the venue Mallow. Donoughmore What can one say about Donoughmore. They have 8 Cork Senior Championships in a row now to their credit. They are tightly knit unit with the Barrett brothers Thomas and Philip led by Mossy at the helm, they show a huge commitment to training and while their age profile may now be as low as the other clubs, but they too have blended in the young players well, like Edel O’Sullivan, Rose Cogan, Emer Walsh, Sarah O’Connell, Aisling Barrett, Laura O’ Mahony and particularly Rena Buckley who had a marvellous campaign 2 years ago when just 14 years of age. They have huge experience in the likes of Hanora Kelleher playing as well as ever, Capt Julie Murphy, Mary O’Connor, Aisling O’Connor. Vera Sheehan a tremendous half back will be a huge loss to them if unable to play. She is currently recovering from injury. Their joust with old rivals Ballymacrbry on Sunday evening at Ardfinnan at 5pm will be worth travelling a long way to see and will be one of the games of the year. Gabriel Rangers The 3rd member of the exciting trio are Junior reps Gabriel Rangers from the Ballydehob area of West Cork. This year they put the frustration of losing 5 Co finals behind them and they have taken to the Munster scene like veterans. Everybody associated with Cork football are delighted with their breakthrough. Keeper Greta Burchill has been an inspiration figure and has been a huge influence on their success. Its a real family club with the Cotters, Regans, Clearys, Wards, O’Briens and O’Driscolls to the fore on and off the field. They will travel with a huge following on Sunday to take on another famed club Austin Stacks Tralee, the game is fixed for 12 noon with Genflesk in Kerry the venue. With none of the 3 games clashing time wise, all Cork sports followers should, make that extra special effort to support the teams in their quest for Munster glory. Another night at the dogs. Curraheen Park in Cork should be thronged again this year for the 3r Annual Greyhound benefit night for Cork ladies Football. The date is Thursday October 30th. The 2 previous fundraisers brought the biggest crows to the track outside the night of the Laurels finals and there is no reason to doubt that this years event will not surpass those. The quality and standard of racing each year has been superb with track records set each year, 2 years ago by Rutland Budgie over the 525 distance and last year by Confident Choice at the 550 distance. There is huge incentive for people to go this year with supporters having a treble chance all for a modest €20. You get entry to the track worth €7, a sponsorship of your own dog for a race, with a raffle for a hamper in each race and a raffle on the gate ticket for €2,500 of if unable to go you will be included in the draw. Fr. Liam Kelleher is again the race organiser and if you would like to sponsor your own race there are still a few spots available, give him a ring at 087-8516984 or if you want some tickets. Charleville make football debut St Mary’s Charleville famed for their Academic and sporting achievements have now added ladies football to their list of sports. Nineteen years ago I was Instrumental in introducing camogie to the school the first year they won the Munster Intermediate title and the following year they won the first of their 25 All- Ireland titles, by taking the All-Ireland junior crown in Croke Park. St Mary’s Mallow provided their first opposition ever in camogie and history was repeated on Monday of this week when the sides met in football at Charleville GAA pitch. Mallow fielding 10 players with Cork experience at under age level, were in a state of shock at half-time as Charleville led by Cork senior Elaine O’Riordan, Shannon Brosnan and a number of Limerick Inter-co players led by 3-5 to 0-4. The second half saw the Mallow girls up the pace but still it took two late goals to seal victory on a scorline of 4-12 to 3-7. No Doubt with a little bit more experience and a few matches behind them the Charleville girls will be a force to be reckoned with in this Senior B Competition. Scorers St Mary’s Mallow: Jenny McCarthy 2-5 Linda Barrett 1-2 Roisin O’Sullivan 1-1, Claire Barrett 0-2 Emer O’Connell 0-1 Sheila O’Callaghan 0-1 Scorers St Marys Charleville: Natasha Murphy 1-3 Mary Coleman 1-1 Elaine O’Riordan 1-0. Tara Brown 0-1,. Christine O’Shea 0-1 Shannon Brosnan 0-1 Results. League Div 2 Semi Final Inch Rovers 7-10 Kilshannig 0-1. Div 3 Semis Dromina 1-14 Mitchelstown 1-4 Liscarroll 3-11 Rosscarbery 1-2 Fr Liam Kelleher PRO 087-8516984 Share this Article 0 0