BY SEÁN HOLLAND
CORK’S quest for back-to-back O’Duffy Cup titles reaches its penultimate stage this Saturday when they face Dublin in the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland camogie senior semi-final in UPMC Nowlan Park, Kilkenny (1.30pm).
It will mark almost a month since the Rebels’ last competitive action, having not played since June 29th when they defeated Galway 2-16 to 1-7 in their final group game. That victory allowed Cork to progress straight to the semi-final having topped their group.
It was a very impressive group stage campaign for Cork, winning all five of their games with a finishing score difference of +91. Included amongst those five games, the Rebels faced Dublin in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, coming out on top quite emphatically by a score of 4-22 to 0-5.
Since then, their opponents regrouped, defeating Down in their final group game 4-20 to 0-6, and then overcame the tough task of Kilkenny in the quarter-final by 1-13 to 0-12, setting them up nicely for a second crack at the Rebels. This will be the Dubs’ first foray into the senior semi-finals since 2017.
Cork’s scoring power has been one of their main strengths this season – they have accumulated 132 points to this point, averaging over 26 points per game. Two players have helped this tally more than any and stand above the rest in the scoring ranks. Amy O’Connor from St Vincent’s and Katrina Mackey from Douglas have been on fire for the Rebels this year. In the All-Ireland campaign alone, O’Connor has notched up 4-24, with Mackey not far behind scoring 3-19.
While their scoring prowess is lethal, their defensive qualities are just as impressive. The Rebels have only conceded 41 points in five matches. That’s an average of just over eight points a game.
Dublin have had the advantage of playing an extra game but still fall short of Cork in the scoring ranks. They’ve totalled 110 points (18 points per game) and conceded 91 (15 points per game). Still, Cork manager Ger Manley will be keeping a keen eye on Dublin captain Aisling Maher, who is one of Dublin’s main scoring threats. The former All-Star is lethal from open play and placed balls, showing that ability totalling 0-7 in the famous quarter-final victory over Kilkenny where she also picked up the player-of-the-match award.
The other semi-final will be contested by Galway and Tipperary who will go to battle at 3pm following Cork v Dublin. Both games will be shown live on RTÉ.
