Cork take three in a row with ease

Munster Senior Final.

Cork take 3 in a row with ease.

By Fr Liam Kelleher

 

Cork 1-17 Waterford 1-5.

In a listless, lifeless, utterly boring game of football Cork
did what they had to do to capture their 3rd Munster senior final
on the trot at the Gaelic grounds in Limerick on Saturday evening
last. While the fare on offer was not pretty to watch Cork, achieved
their objective and while it was the first time they had defeated
Waterford in a Munster final the signs were, that unless something
dramatic happens, Cork will dominate Munster for the next 10 years
at least, just like Kerry did in the 80’s and Waterford did
in the 90’s.

One should not be over critical of Cork, the whistle happy referee
Richie O’Connor was partly to blame for the stop go nature
of the game. In a valid comparison enacted on the same grounds,
Cork’s Male counterparts struggled big time against a very
limited Limerick side and received stinging criticism, they have
answered their critics in no uncertain terms since. Not that Cork
have to answer to their critics because there was such a sparse
attendance at such an important encounter. On Saturday it took
them all of 25 minutes to come to terms with the Deise girls.
Indeed if Waterford had taken their chances from play and from
frees they could have been clearly ahead where it counts on the
scoreboard. The defining moment of the half and indeed of the
game came 5 minutes form the break when in a sweeping move involving
Nollaig Cleary, Amanda Murphy and an ever improving Caoimhe Creedon,
the lattter billowed the net to give Cork a 1-6 to 0-2 lead as
the short whistle. Waterford lost their most influential forward
Niamh Briggs and so a very limited attack ran out out ideas and
scores, as Cork completely dominated. Angela Walsh, Laura Power
and Rena Buckley were superb at the back and outside them Sinead
O’Reilly, Brid

Stack and Geraldine O’Flynn who started ahead of Briege Corkery
did everything expected of them. Geraldine fitted in particularly
well and made a fine sally upfield towards the end of the game
to do what she does best, to score a point. Claire O’Donoghue
came in as a late replacement for the injured Elaine Harte to
mind the net and acquitted herself well.

One way traffic

The 2nd half was all one way traffic with capt Juliet Murphy and
particularly Norita Kelly dominating at midfield despite the hard
work that Mary O’Donnell put in. Mary with fullback Rebecca
Hallahan, later named player of the match with their chief scorer
Aoife Murphy and keeper Mary Hayes were the only Waterford girls
to come out of this game with their reputations intact. With the
continuos supply of good ball, points came at regular intervals
and the final total of 17 was a true reflection of Corks

dominance.

How good are Cork this year? will be the question many people
will ask, only time will tell but judging by the evidence of this
mismatch they should be favourites to retain their All-Ireland
title. What of Waterford? who were the team of the nineties in
the country, they never really threatened after the first 20m
minutes. They do have a chance to redeem themselves in the quarter
finals but they will have to plan without the injured Donna Frost
who was one of the casualties of the game,

Player of the match Rebecca Hallahan left the field of play severely
concussed, while subs who came on Karen Kelly broke her hand playing
camogie on Sunday and Lennie Kirwan will be in the USA. No doubt
Cork’s mettle will be more severely tested as the competition
moves on, but their All-Ireland success appears to have given
then an added self belief and confidence and of course the competition
for places will up the ante as well. Surprisingly no new faces
were added to this years panel, which contains just 2 of Corks
Minor squad Amanda Murphy and Laura Power who contest the All-Ireland
Minor final replay on Sunday at Birr.

Cork Scorers Caoimhe Creedon 1-2 Nollaig Cleary 0-3. Valerie Mulcahy
0-3 Juliet Murphy 0-3 Deirdre O’Reilly 0-2 Regina Curtin
0-2. Amanda Murphy, 0-1 Geraldine O’Flynn 0-1 Waterford Aoife
Murphy 1-2. Sinead Ryan 0-2 Cliona O’Keefe 0-1

Cork: Claire O’Donoghhue, Rena Buckley, Angela Walsh,
Laura Power, Geraldine O’Flynn, Brid Stack Sinead O”Reilly,
Juliet Murphy, Norita Kelly, Nollaig Cleary Deirdre O’Reilly
Amanda Murphy, Valerie Mulcahy, m Mary O’Connor, Caoimhe
Creedon, Subs used. Regina Curtin, Aisling O’Connor, Briege
Corkery,Mairead Kelly.

Waterford: Mary Hayes. Donna a Frost Rebecca Hallahan,
Lorraine Whelan, Louise Ryan, Marion Troy, Michelle McGrath, Mary
O’Donnell capt, Cliona O’Keefe, Linda Wall, Michelle
Ryan, Mairead Wall, Sinead Ryan, Niamh Briggs, Aoife Murphy.

Subs: Karen Kelly, Eilis Cooney, Lennie Kirwan.