Concession of goals prove Tipp’s undoing in semi-final
CAMOGIE: Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Under 23 Championship Semi-Final
Cork 3-13
Tipperary 0-15
Report: Therese O’Callaghan at the Cork Camogie grounds
MATCH DIGEST
Player of the Match: Áine Slattery (Tipperary).
SCORERS – Cork: Amy Sheppard 1-7 (0-2 frees, 0-2 45s), Rose Murphy 1-1, Claudia Keane 1-0, Ava Fitzgerald 0-3, Eimear Duignan, Niamh McNabola 0-1 each.
Tipperary: Aoife Dwyer 0-8 (5 frees), Danielle Ryan 0-4; Kate Ferncombe, Anna Fahie, Hannah Butler 0-1 each.
This was the third meeting of Cork and Tipperary at under 23 level this year and a common theme underlying all three Tipp defeats - the concession of goals on each occasion.
The Munster final was lost in extra-time (3-15 to 0-14). The All-Ireland round-robin was decisive (3-19 to 0-8). But Bill Mullaney’s side bounced back to give a good performance on Saturday despite still suffering defeat.
After a huge wind-assisted first half they led 0-8 to 1-3. Captain Maria Connolly and Lorna Ryan were leading from the full-back line. Goalkeeper Áine Slattery was terrific. Up front, Aoife Dwyer and Danielle Ryan showed the way.
But there was a shift in momentum early in the second half when Cork clipped two goals in quick succession from Amy Sheppard and Rose Murphy. During the third quarter the visitors were outscored 2-6 to a single point.
Tipperary regrouped quickly only to come up short once more. Mullaney felt his team matched Cork all the way with the exception of those two majors.
“Jim Gavin always said you could be beaten by a better team, but you can still perform very well. And we did, we performed brilliantly,” he said.
“We got caught early in the first half and we got caught early in the second half. I thought it was level all the way along. There was nothing between us. I’d say we had Cork worried for very long stages.
“The breeze was strong enough and it helped us in the first half. The breeze didn’t help Cork, it was goals. They were a bit cuter on our puck-out. We were going long, we felt it was the best way to go and then we lost five or six puck-outs in a row. They got 2-1 out of those five or six puck-outs and that was the difference in the game at the end.”
At the start of the fourth quarter, Slattery pulled off yet another brilliant save.
“She is unbelievable,” he said.
“It is amazing how two players from the same club (Shannon Rovers) are the two top goalies in Tipperary (Laura Leenane, senior). The two of them are unreal.
“Áine is such a character, she was with the Tipp seniors. Took a year out, back in. Building her career again. Couldn’t be happier with her. What she gives to us is character. Never mind as a hurler or a player but as a woman.
“A lot of the players are only 20, in an All-Ireland semi-final and an A competition. As sports women, what they bring to their parish, their family, and their club, every single one of them should be complimented and clapped on the back.”
More especially considering the effort is put in at exam time.
“We learned along the way, as a management and county board, the panel is excellent, but it had its dips as well with the competition going on while the Leaving Cert is on and college exams as well.
“We were back to 16 and 14 at training a lot of nights. But that doesn’t reflect on the girls, it reflects on the organisers or Croke Park or whoever dreamt up the competition.
“But our panel was excellent, they trained as hard as they could and as often as they could.
“So, we’re delighted where we came from. We’re a young mixed panel, we have one player on the age of 23. Nine, 10, 11 of the starters are out of minor so, so proud of them, what they gave to us and the way they improved during the year. And they did their Leaving Cert and their college exams and still trained all through that.”
TEAMS - Cork: Caoimhe Buckley (7); Sinéad Hurley (6), Claire Kingston (7), Meadhbh De Búrca (6); Meadhbh Ring (7), Daire O’Brien (Capt 8), Avril Cashman (7); Ava Fitzgerald (7), Eimear Duignan (7); Isobel Sheehan (7), Rose Murphy (8), Niamh McNabola (6); Amy Sheppard (7), Claudia Keane (6), Millie Condon (7).
Subs: Ella Wigginton Barrett (6) for McNabola (53); Erinn Curtin (6) for Keane (53); Edel Sheehan (6) for Ring (56), Emily O’Donoghue (NR) for Murphy (58).
Tipperary: Áine Slattery (Shannon Rovers 9); Lorna Ryan (Clonoulty/Rossmore 7), Maria Connolly (Drom & Inch 8), Lily Fahie (Cashel King Cormacs 6); Aoife Mellerick (Newport/Ballinahinch 6), Miriam Murphy (Silvermines 7), Celine Guinan (Shannon Rovers 6); Orla O’Brien (Éire Óg Annacarty/D 7), Grace Moloney (Cashel King Cormacs 6); Danielle Ryan (Éire Óg Annacarty/D 7), Kate Ferncombe (Clonoulty/Rossmore 6), Anna Fahie (Cashel King Cormacs 6); Aoife Fitzgerald (Borris-Ileigh 6), Aoife Dwyer (Thurles Sarsfields 7), Hannah Butler (Cashel King Cormacs 6).
Subs: Caoimhe McCormack (Knockavilla-D Kickhams 7) for Mellerick (44), Ciara Gleeson (Gortnahoe/Glengoole 6) for Moloney (49); Paula Quirke (Boherlahan-Dualla 6) for A Fahie (49); Ali O’Kelly (Kilruane MacDonaghs 6) for Ferncombe (53).
Referee: Brian Kearney (Kildare).