Cork 3-15 Clare 0-8
Ignore the scoreline. It in absolutely no way provides any indication of the story of this All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship quarter final.
With nine minutes remaining, and Clare still trailing by just five points, inspirational centre-back Niamh O’Dea surged out of defence, drew the cover and found Eimear Kelly sprinting into space 30-metres out.
The Truagh Clonlara attacker gathered and headed for goal, but a surreptitious tug on the blindside of referee Liz Dempsey held her up, forcing her to shoot under pressure rather than staring into the whites of Cork goalie Amy Lee’s eyes.
Her mishit effort was cleared and within seconds, Amy O’Connor was pointing at the other end.
O’Connor blasted a brace of goals in the concluding stages and by the end it was a 16-point margin.
Cork opened the scoring through Linda Collins from their first attack but Clare quickly signalled their intent, as Chloe Morey used the goalpost-shaking wind to launch an equaliser from a different post code, and Áine O’Loughlin picked Laura Treacy’s pocket to give her side the lead with a deft finish over her right shoulder.
Katrina Mackey equalised and the sides would be level five times in total in the first-half.
O’Dea and Clare Hehir were excellent for Clare, while Eimear Kelly was deadly accurate in snaffling two fine points, the second after a pass of stunningly soft and accurate execution by Morey.
Cork went in at half-time leading 0-7 to 0-6, late points from Saoirse McCarthy and Mackey - her third - putting two between them for the first time, but another whopper from Morey, right on the midfield line and tight to the right touchline, gave Clare the final say of the half.
Paudie Murray’s charges got the perfect start to the second period when O’Connor set up Mackey for a goal within seconds of the resumption but Clare remained in contention, Morey (free) and O’Loughlin splitting the posts and Lee making a brilliant save with her body from Kelly.
It was Cork that finished the stronger though to advance to the semi-finals in a fortnight’s time.
Cork: A Lee; L Coppinger, L Treacy, M Cahalane; H Looney (0-1), P Mackey, L Hayes; A Thompson, N O'Callaghan; C Sigerson (0-1, free), O Cronin (0-6, three frees), K Mackey (1-3); L Collins (0-1), S McCarthy (0-1), A O'Connor (2-1). Subs: C Healy (0-1) for McCarthy (43 mins), L Homan for O'Callaghan (45m), I O'Regan for K Mackey (53m), E Murphy for Coppinger (54m), F Keating for Looney (60+1m)
Clare: A Corbett; C Grogan, C Hehir, C Doyle; R McMahon, N O'Dea, A Ryan; S Vaughan, O Duggan; L McMahon, E Kelly (0-2), M McGrath; C Morey (0-4), A O'Loughlin (0-2), M Scanlon. Subs: R Conway for Scanlon (36 mins), S Conlon for Vaughan (43m), G Hickey for McMahon (49m), A Power for McGrath (56m), M Caulfield for Duggan (57m)
Referee: Liz Dempsey (Kilkenny)
Tipperary 1-12 Waterford 0-10
A 42nd minute goal by Karen Kennedy gave Tipperary vital breathing place and ensured a place in the last four of the All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championships for the third consecutive season, with champions Galway lying in wait.
It was the third year in a row too that Waterford failed to get beyond this hurdle, but they will have little cause for complaint having not been able to go through the gears in the second half.
Fergal O’Brien and Dan Shanahan moved Beth Carton to the edge of the square just as the minimum of five minutes of injury-time was announced and the De La Salle scoring machine had a rasping shot brilliantly saved by Minor goalkeeper Áine Slattery.
A goal wouldn’t have been enough anyway as Tipp showed all their experience in the second half to impose their will.
It was a huge win for Bill Mullaney’s side, particularly as they were without the considerable services of suspended Aisling Moloney and former skipper Orla O’Dwyer, who departed for Australia to take up AFLW duties.
But with Waterford having excelled in the first-half in terms of workrate and craft and gone in at the break trailing by just 0-8 to 0-6, it was their Munster neighbours who found the necessary improvement, upping their intensity considerably to maintain and then increase their advantage.
Tipp got off to a fantastic start with a point after 10 seconds from Niamh Treacy, followed by a point from Cáit Devane, who provided seven points of her side’s tally.
But Waterford were showing plenty and it was notable that four of their forwards scored from play, Abby Flynn in particular looking very dangerous, well supported by Sarah Lacey, Carton and Niamh Rockett.
But they could not get into the game after the resumption, Tipp instead finding another level.
Devane launched a prodigious score from nearly 65 metres into the wind before Nicole Walsh and Rockett exchanged scores.
That left three points between the sides when Kennedy, marking Carton throughout, somehow found herself in the opposition danger zone, and winning the race with Waterford goalkeeper Brianna O’Regan to force the sliotar home for a critical score.
Carton led the resistance but Walsh and Devane kept the scoreboard ticking over at the other end, and Aoife McGrath, Kennedy and Mary Ryan were in among those in no mood to yield.
Tipperary: Á Slattery; C Quirke, M Ryan, E Loughman; M Eviston, K Kennedy (1-0), A McGrath; N Treacy (0-1), S Quirke; N Walsh (0-2), R Howard, C Devane (0-7, five frees); G O'Brien (0-1), M Campion (0-1), C McIntyre. Subs: E Fryday for S Quirke (half-time), J Kelly for O'Brien (41m), K Blair for Fryday inj (55m), JA Burke for Ryan (60+6m).
Waterford: B O'Regan; S Harney, I Heffernan, C White; L Bray, C Carroll, C McGrath; O Hickey, S Curran; A Flynn (0-2), B Carton (0-5, two frees, one 45), A Fitzgerald; K Lynch, S Lacey (0-1), N Rockett (0-2). Subs: A Landers for Fitzgerald (45 mins), A Corcoran for Lacey (50m), K Corbett Barry for Hickey (55m), S Fitzgerald for Curran (55m).
Referee: John Dermody (Westmeath)
