Ladies: Cork to face Kerry in Munster SFC final after comfortable win over Tipp

Cork 3-13 Tipperary 0-11

by Michael Heverin

Cork proved much too strong for Tipperary in the TG4 Munster Senior Football Championship clash at Fethard Town Park on Sunday afternoon, with an eleven points winning margin reflecting the gulf between the sides.

Goals proved vital for the visitors, with Katie Quirke getting two, the second from the penalty spot and Laura O’Mahony getting the score of the game, with a beautifully angled shot to the top corner of the net past Lauren Fitzpatrick.

Despite an encouraging start, the home side never threatened the Cork goal. There was an over-reliance on Aisling Moloney from frees, but Sarah English put in a brilliant second half with three points from play.

Tipperary started brightly and were 0-4 to 0-2 up after ten minutes, with their scores from Caoimhe Condon, an Aisling Maloney free, Anna Rose Kennedy and Ava Fennessy, to Cork replies from a Katie Quirke free and Aine O'Sullivan.

Cork then came back with a flurry of scores, hitting 1-5 without reply. Quirke, a huge presence in their attack, finished a great move with a superb goal, and O’Sullivan followed up with a point in the next move.

As Cork took control of the contest, Quirke added three further points, one from a free, and O’Mahony also finding the target. Moloney from a free had Tipperary’s first point in fifteen minutes to leave Cork 1-7 to 0-5 ahead at the interval.

Kirsty Crotty Ryan had the first point of the second half for Tipperary, after a Moloney shot for goal from a free was blocked and cleared. But in the 33rd minute a Cork turnover in midfield proved costly for Tipp, with Quirke breaking through the centre and setting up O’Mahony for a sublime goal.

Tipperary never recovered from that blow and could never reduce the Cork lead to less than five points. Three points from Sarah English helped to keep them in the game, with Moloney adding two further points from frees, but Cork points from Quirke, O’Sullivan, O’Mahony, as well as subs Anna Ryan and Hannah Looney, kept the visitors out of touch.

The victory was sealed when Quirke converted a penalty in the 60th minute. Both teams had players yellowed-carded in the last ten minutes, Erika O’Shea for Cork and Maria Curley for Tipp, with Cork ending the game with thirteen players when Dara Kiniry had to go off injured after all their subs were used.

Scorers - Cork: K Quirke 2-6 (3f, 1pen), L O’Mahony 1-2, A O’Sullivan 0-3, H Looney, A Ryan 0-1 each.

Tipperary: A Moloney 0-4 (4f), S English 0-3, A.R. Kennedy, C Condon, K Crotty Ryan, A Fennessy 0-1 each.

CORK: S Murphy; D Kiniry, S Kelly, M Duggan; E O’Shea, S Cronin, R Corkery; M O’Callaghan, A Healy; A O’Mahony, L O’Mahony, E Cleary; A O’Sullivan, E Coppinger, K Quirke. Subs: A Ryan for A O’Mahony (ht), H Looney for O’Callaghan (42), L Hallihan for Coppinger (50), K Horgan for Cleary (54), S McGoldrick for O’Sullivan (58).

TIPPERARY: L Fitzpatrick; N Martin, L Morrissey, E Cronin; S English, M Curley, B Condon; A.R. Kennedy, C Kennedy; C Condon, A Ryan, A O’Shea; A Moloney, K Crotty Ryan, A Fennessy. Subs: A McGuigan for O’Shea (37), C English for Crotty Ryan (40), H Spillane for C Condon (40), N Towey for Ryan (48), E Cremins for Fennessy (59).

Referee – Patrick Smith (Waterford).