Cork through to their first All-Ireland semi-final

CORK SECURE FIRST EVER CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINAL SPOT

CORK LADIES FOOTBALL
CORK 2-19 MEATH 3-10

This was the game Cork needed and despite giving the supporters
and themselves a fright, like true champions they held their composure.
Not only that, but they secured Cork’s first ever semi-final spot
at senior championship level and are set to face rivals Mayo on
Saturday 10 September in Portlaoise again. On a day when a number
of big names were subdued, others stepped up to the plate. Briege
Corkery and Regina Curtain showed great leadership and spurred
their colleagues on, kicking some exceptional points. Meath stunned
the Munster champions with two goals on the seond and fifth minute,
both coming from their first two attacks.

A number of points ensued from captain Elaine Duffy and it took
two points from wing back Briege Corkery to get the show rolling
for the Rebels’. The half back line of Sinead O’Reilly, Ciara
Walsh and Corkery did well to maintain the pressure being applied
and Norita Kelly gathered the breaking ball to supply to the forward
line. Regina Curtain who slotted in at centre forward produced
three superb points and little by little Cork chipped away at
the lead. Amanda Murphy and Nollaig Cleary also contributed before
the injured Valerie Mulcahy made way for Deirdre O’Reilly who
within seconds slotted a goal, assisted by Naomh Abán’s Caoimhe
Creedon.

The sides were now on par but Corkery ensured it was her team
who went ahead with a point before the break and Cork were in
front for the first time, 1-9 to 2-5. Meath started the better
and keeper Elaine Harte was forced to pull off a remarkable save
but she could do nothing about the easy frees being given away
by her backline and Meath made sure they punished them. Again
the sides were level but a questionable penalty gave the Leinster
ladies the break they needed to go ahead and with great accuracy
and Power, Jackie Shiels goaled.

For the second time, Cork were put to the sword but they exhibited
pristine composure and again began to pluck away at their opponents
advantage. Amanda Murphy, Nollaig Cleary and Regina Curtain all
pointed following an inspirational score from their full forward
Caoimhe Creedon. But Meath capitalised again on a free and with
five minutes remaining Cork led by just a solitary point. The
sin-binning of Jane Burke gave the Rebels’ the lifeline needed
to seal the deal and Murphy and Curtain pointed before Mary O’Connor
goaled from a perfectly placed pass from Corkery.

Cork passed the test and the final score read 2-19 3-10. It certainly
wasn’t the perfect performance by any means but the Rebels’ proved
exactly why they are champions and it seems as if things are slowly
but surely beginning to fall nicely into place before the All-Ireland
semi on September 10.

Scorers for Cork: R Curtain 0-5, B Corkery 0-3, A Murphy
0-3 and N Cleary 0-3 each, M O’Connor and D O’Reilly 1-0each,
V Mulcahy and G O’Flynn 0-1 each.
Scorers for Meath: J Shiels 1-4 (1-0 penalty, 0-3 frees),G
Doherty 1-1, M Sheridan 1-0, E Duffy 0-3(frees), K O’Brien and
L McKeever 0-1 each.
CORK: E Harte, N Keohane, A Walsh, R Buckley, B Corkery,
C Walsh, S O’Reilly, J Murphy, N Kelly, A Murphy, R Curtain, N
Cleary, V Mulcahy, C Creedon, G O’Flynn.
Subs: D O’Reilly for V Mulcahy (28 min;inj), M O’Connor
for G O’Flynn (41min), B for N Keohane (45min).
MEATH: I Munnelly, L McKeever, E Lynch, S McCormack, S
Dooley, E McGrane, C Dempsey, M Sheridan, G Nulty, G Doherty,
G Bennett, J Shiels, C O’Shaughnessy, J Rispin, K O’Brien. Referee:
E O’Hare (Down)

TG4 JUNIOR ALL-IRELAND QUARTER FINAL
CORK 1-9 FERMANAGH 2-7

Some days missed chances prove more costly than others. That was
the scenario in the TG4 junior All-Ireland quarter final on Saturday
in Portlaoise. This game was there for the taking but from the
off the Rebels’ weren’t clicking as well as they had in the provincial
campaign. It was a ruffled start but a point from wingback Fiona
Crowley on the sixth minute opened the scoring and soon after
Susan Power added another.

As to Fermanagh’s abilities, they were quickly on display as Sharon
Little shot through the defence, assisted Gemma Scollan and the
ball ended in the net. The Ulster side now began to win easy possession
when they introduced Shauna Hamilton as a third sweeper, with
captain and midfielder Rose Connolly absent with a virus. Niamh
Hickey and Susan Power were combining well and midway through
created a goal chance but the angle was too tight for Power and
the shot sliced narrowly past the post.

Defensively Cork did well through Tara Galvin and Ann Marie Walsh
but had no answer for player of the match Caroline Little who
notched three first half points. Still in third gear Niamh Hickey
and Eleanor Twohig added points to keep in tow but a magnificent
save by keeper Mairead O’Sullivan before the interval would surely
be the turning point. Cork trailed 0-6 1-4 and supporters were
more than perplexed to see the threatening Susan Power and Fiona
Crowley substituted with both having contributed to the score
line.

Management were left off the hook when super sub Emma Harrington
put the Rebels’ ahead with a cracking goal 10 minutes in. Hickey
added a point and defenders Siobhán Buckley, Vicki Power and Tara
Galvin kept Fermanagh’s waves of continuous attacks at bay. However
they had no answer for a top drawer score from Gemma Scollan and
against the run of play Sharon Little goaled when she drove a
low ball through a crowded defence and with poor visibility O’Sullivan
had little chance.

Fermanagh now led by a point with seven on the clock but free
taker Niamh Hickey sealed the equalizer. The Ulster side went
ahead through Eimir Martin but there was plenty of time remaining
for Cork to take control. The tension was palpable with the stop
clock on view but for the first time during their campaign Cork
panicked. Three scoring chances went astray following long distance
solo runs and Cork had their chances not only to level proceedings
but go home victors. But that they didn’t.

Questions will be asked in defeat and supporters are already questioning
the decision to bring on players added to the panel a week ago
ahead of those who committed themselves all year. Perhaps substitutions
came to soon and Cork lacked the leadership they needed to regain
composure. Losing by one point is the hardest pill to swallow
but Fermanagh were deserving of their sweet victory.

Scorers for Cork: N Hickey 0-5 (0-2 frees), E Harrington
1-0, F Crowley, E Twohig, S Power and J Hennessy 0-1 each.
Scorers for Fermanagh: C Little 0-4 (0-1free), G Scollan
1-1, S Little 1-0 and E Martin 0-2.
CORK: O Murphy, T Galvin, S Buckley, V Power, AM Walsh,
K O’Sullivan, F Crowley, A Walsh, E Cotter, E Twohig, C O’Sullivan,
S Power, N Hickey, T Lucey, J Hennessy.
Subs: M O’Sullivan for O Murphy (24min), E Harrington for
S Power (HT), R Cogan for F Crowley (HT), J Luddy for E Twohig
(37min) and G O’Brien for J Hennessy (51min).
FERMANAGH: F Maguire, C O’Hart, N Curran, T McGirr, S Woods,
A Johnston, C Woods, R Connolly, S Little, C Little, S Hamilton,
E Mation, G Scollan, M McCreesh.
Subs: R Connolly for M McCreesh and S Little for C Woods.

Referee: C Groome (Kildare)

Mary White (PRO, Cork Ladies Football)