Ladies: Late drama as Dublin snatch victory against Cork to advance to semis
July 04, 2026
Lauren Magee of Dublin has a shot on goal blocked by Aimee Corcoran of Cork during the LGFA TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship quarter-final at Parnell Park in Dublin. Photo by Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile
Dublin 3-11
Cork 2-13
by Daire Walsh
Orlagh Nolan and Kate Sullivan grabbed late goals at Parnell Park as defending champions Dublin snatched victory in a dramatic finale against Cork to book a date with Kerry in the last four of the TG4 All-Ireland senior football championship.
While it was the Jackies who got the scoring underway with an early point from Kate Sullivan, Cork signalled their intent when corner-forward Leah Hallihan broke through the opposition defence to fire home a second-minute goal.
Dublin responded to this early set-back with singles from Nolan and Jodi Egan, and even though Aine Terry O’Sullivan squeezed the Leesiders back in front, Niamh Hetherton burst forward to bag her fourth goal in just three championship games on 11 minutes.
Despite Cork splitting the posts towards the end of the opening quarter through the boots of the raiding Melissa Duggan and the dependable Katie Quirke, Dublin replied to both of these scores with fisted efforts courtesy of Egan and Sullivan.
Yet Cork reignited their challenge when Sadbh McGoldrick and Aine Terry O’Sullivan (two) kicked three unanswered points in the space of two minutes. Although Kate Sullivan’s superb score at the opposite end looked set to leave the teams inseparable, an impressive contribution from Emma Cleary handed the Leesiders a slender 1-7 to 1-6 cushion at the interval.
A determined Dublin initially hit the ground running on the restart with quickfire points by the influential duo of Nolan and Sullivan, but Cork restored parity when centre-forward Grace Murphy opened her account on 35 minutes.
Laura Grendon briefly restored the Dublin lead with her first of the day, only for Cork to once again show they meant business with unanswered white flag scores from Hallihan and Quirke (two). A close-range Nolan free cut the Dublin deficit to the bare minimum inside the final-quarter, but Joe Carroll’s visitors were suddenly five points clear when another Quirke point was supplemented by a palmed goal from substitute Abigail Ring in the 51st minute.
However, fresh life was breathed into the Jackies challenge when Nolan rose highest to punch a Hetherton delivery to the net with just over three minutes remaining and they were incredibly back in front moments later as Sullivan seized upon a loose Cork kick-out to hammer home her side’s third goal of the day.
A fine point from Kate Donaghy then left Dublin on the cusp of a semi-final berth and despite a late free by Quirke, they progressed in the most dramatic of fashions.
Scorers – Dublin: K Sullivan 1-4, O Nolan 1-3 (1f), N Hetherton 1-0, J Egan 0-2, L Grendon 0-1, K Donaghy 0-1 each.
Cork: K Quirke 0-5 (5f), L Hallihan 1-1, A Ring 1-0, AT O’Sullivan 0-3, M Duggan, S McGoldrick, G Murphy, E Cleary 0-1 each.
DUBLIN: A Shiels; N Crowley, R Hartnett, H Leahy; S McIntyre, H McGinnis, N Donlon; N Hetherton, L Magee; A Timothy, O Nolan, C O’Connor; L Grendon, J Egan, K Sullivan. Subs: M Ní Scanaill for Hartnett (h-t), E Kearney for Timothy (44), M Davoren for Egan (47), K Donaghy for Grendon (51), C Rowe for McIntyre (58).
CORK: S Murphy; M Duggan, S Kelly, S Callanan; A Corcoran, M O’Callaghan, R Corkery; S McGoldrick, K Redmond; A O’Mahony, G Murphy, E Cleary; L Hallihan, K Quirke, AT O’Sullivan. Subs: A Ring for Hallihan (48), R O’Regan for O’Sullivan (53).
Referee: Eoghan O’Neill (Kildare).
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