BY KEVIN EGAN
CORK may be scoring freely but their captain Méabh Cahalane has emphasised the All-Ireland champions’ defensive solidity as the core reason for their 100 per cent record in the Very Camogie League.
The Rebels have lost five Division 1A finals since their most recent success and regardless of what happens in their last-round clash with Galway this Saturday at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, they are now just 60 minutes away bridging an 11-year gap, after their 1-12 to 0-7 win over Tipperary at The Ragg cemented place in another decider.
They may be All-Ireland champions but the vast majority of the squad doesn’t have a league medal, so it looks like an obvious target for them.
While winning in the backyard of last year’s league victors was important last weekend, Cork captain and full-back Méabh Cahalane was every bit as delighted with the manner in which their victory was achieved.
‘I think in our second and third quarter, we got really good scores from our turnovers and that was why we came out on the right side,’ Cahalane said afterwards.
‘We haven’t conceded a goal yet in this league and that was one of our main aims coming into this game, that if we can keep that record going for as long as possible, that’ll be an important attribute coming into the championship.’
Tipp held out well for the first quarter, playing into a strong breeze, trailing by just a single point when Grace O’Brien scored from the sideline in the 16th minute.
But Kate Wall’s point in response kickstarted a run of 1-6 without reply, as Cork took control. In a good, physical contest where referee Liz Dempsey let both teams play freely, Clodagh Finn, Laura Hayes (two), Orlaith Cahalane and Katrina Mackey all used the breeze well to raise white flags from open play. Cahalane also showed incredible vision to flick a 15-metre pass into Katrina Mackey for a goal two minutes before half-time, a score that proved to be a hammer blow to Tipperary’s hopes of securing a big psychological win against their neighbours.
In the second half, Cork’s defensive play was absolutely immense, with Laura Treacy and Hannah Looney very impressive across the half-back line. On the one occasion when Clodagh McIntyre cut through to try and bring Tipperary to life, Cork shot-stopper Amy Lee prevented the ball from going under the crossbar with one of the best saves anyone will see on any pitch this year. It was a testament to the vice-like grip that the Cork defence had on their Tipp opponents that the Premier women failed to register a score from play at any stage.
‘Aisling (Thompson) and Hannah (Looney) were coming back to help out by putting pressure on their half-forward line and that was a big part of it. We probably conceded a few sloppy frees that we didn’t need to concede, but overall we’d be happy with that,’ Cahalane noted, as Galway are next up this weekend.
The Tribeswomen’s 1-16 to 0-13 home win over Dublin in Kilbeacanty means that they are frontrunners for the second final spot, and they need to match whatever Tipperary does against Waterford to advance to the league decider.
Scorers
Tipperary: G O’Brien 0-7 (6f, 1 45).
Cork: K Mackey 1-2; C Finn 0-5; O Cahalane 0-2; S McCartan, K Wall, L Hayes 0-1 each.
Tipperary: L Leenane; J Bourke, C Quirke, N Costigan; C McCarthy, M Eviston, S Corcoran; C Hennessy, E Cunneen; K Ralph, R Howard, C McIntyre; C Treacy, C Maher, G O’Brien.
Subs: E Loughman for N Costigan (10, inj), N Treacy for E Cunneen (ht), E Heffernan for K Ralph (43), J Kelly for C Maher (43), N Cunneen for C Treacy (56), S Madden for R Howard (56).
Cork: A Lee; M Murphy, M Cahalane, P Mackey; H Looney, L Treacy, L Hayes; A Healy, A Thompson; K Wall, C Finn, S McCarthy, K Mackey, S McCartan, C Finn.
Subs: A Fitzgerald for S McCartan (25, inj), E Murphy for K Wall (ht), O Mullins for S McCarthy (54), A O’Connor for C Finn (54), C O’Sullivan for O Cahalane (57), A O’Neill for M Cahalane (55), M Condon for A Fitzgerald (60).
Referee: L Dempsey (Kilkenny).
