Wins for Cork and Tipperary in All-Ireland camogie championship

The 42

16 hours ago

WITH ONE ROUND of group games still to play in the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland senior camogie championship, the knockout picture is looking much clearer after Cork, Tipperary, Waterford and Galway recorded comfortable wins this afternoon.
Those four counties, along with Kilkenny, will go into the knockout stages, and barring a truly remarkable result when Clare cross the Shannon to play Tipperary next week, the Banner County will complete the sextet.
In order for Clare to be overtaken by Limerick, Tipperary would have to win that game by a 60-point margin.
Technically, Tipp have cause to try and run up a score in that game since they could yet take top spot in the group, albeit they would need a huge favour from Wexford as well for that to happen. The Model County crew are rooted to the bottom of Group 1, bound for a relegation play-off, where they will play either Derry or Dublin, even if they shock All-Ireland champions Cork.
Tipp are certainly in strong scoring form, as they put Limerick to the sword in Cappamore, 4-26 to 0-8. Róisín Howard (1-8) and Grace O'Brien (0-4) were among the main tormentors of the Limerick backs and they opened the scoring, with Karin Blair striding forward from full-back to add a third point.
Emily O'Halloran and Sophie O'Callaghan battled gamely in the Limerick defence, while Sarah Gillane made a couple of excellent saves, but the pressure was relentless, with Karen Kennedy and Grace O'Brien scoring goals in a first half 2-12 to 0-1 landslide.
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Denis Kelly showed the depth of his panel by bringing on Jean Kelly and Lucy Purcell in the second half and they both raised green flags of their own, with Limerick taking crumbs of consolation from Orlaith Kelliher and Stephanie Woulfe each scoring of a pair of points from play.
SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh was the venue for the other game in the group as Clare attempted to turn the tables on their 2-22 to 0-10 loss to All-Ireland champions Cork when they met in the Munster championship.
The Banner couldn't make that leap but they were much improved, opening the game with a superb solo run and finish from Jennifer Daly for the game's only goal in the first minute, with Caoimhe Cahill adding a point immediately afterwards.
Without ever playing to their full potential, Cork settled into the contest with an Orlaith Cahalane score after five minutes. They took a three-point lead by half-time and were 0-21 to 1-9 in front by the time the long whistle sounded.
Cork had 10 scorers in all with Saoirse McCarthy (0-5, four from play) their top scorer, complemented by some excellent saves from Amy Lee at the other end of the field.
All of that means that Clare need to beat Tipperary to overtake their eastern frontier neighbours and go into second spot, Wexford will contest the relegation final regardless of their result against Cork, and the O'Duffy Cup holders just have to avoid a catastrophic defeat to make sure of top spot and straight passage to the last four.
In Group 2, Waterford and Galway are headed for a showdown out west next Saturday, a game that will decide pole position and the automatic semi-final berth that comes with it.
With the aid of the breeze, Dublin started brightly in Walsh Park and led by 0-6 to 0-1, but that was before Waterford's twin threat of Beth Carton and Niamh Rockett came into the game. Both players found the net midway through the first half en route to scoring 1-4 and 1-6 respectively, and with Waterford leading by five at the interval, the second half was one-way traffic. Abby Flynn and Annie Fitzgerald both found the net as the hosts ran out 4-16 to 1-11 winners.
Kilkenny are cemented into third spot but Tommy Shefflin has work to do following a second defeat in advance of a quarter-final clash in Croke Park in a fortnight, as Galway were full value for a 1-17 to 0-12 win at UPMC Nowlan Park today.
Again the breeze was a factor and it was Kilkenny who needed to use it in the opening half. Instead they held just one lead in the hour, 0-4 to 0-3 on the back of consecutive points from Caoimhe Keher Murtagh and Aoife Prendergast midway through the half, and just one more white flag before the break was a paltry return.
Galway had to work hard for their scores, Ann Marie Starr creating one for Carrie Dolan while Ciara Hickey hoisted over a majestic effort that put two between the sides (0-7 to 0-5) at the turnaround.
Kilkenny were at their best in the third quarter when the Laura-Murphy-anchored defence held firm, conceding just three points up to the 45th minute.
Three was still the margin (0-13 to 0-10) going into the closing stages but again it was the Tribeswomen who came up with the big plays, one of which saw Aoife Donohoe set up Dolan for a point with a wonderful lift on the run and under pressure on the left sideline.
Then Niamh Niland picked the pocket of a Kilkenny defender and swept in the game's only goal from a tight angle to kill the contest with a few minutes to play.
Now Waterford and Galway have two chances to reach the last four, Kilkenny are idle next week and Dublin need to avoid a slip-up at home to Derry if they are to stay out of the relegation final.