Kerry 1-16
Cork 0-8

by Dan Kearney

A sensational second half performance where they outscored Cork by 1-9 to 0-2 points propelled Kerry to the Munster final at a sun-soaked Fitzgerald Stadium on Sunday in the curtain-raiser to the men’s final between the two counties.

Siofra O’Shea struck 1-3 and Niamh Ní Chonchúir 0-3 as they put a shell-shocked Cork outfit to the sword.

Kerry played with a strong breeze in the first half and threatened early when a lightning move involving Ní Chonchúir and O’Shea saw Caoimhe Redmond produce a great save from Leah McMahon, although the corner forward did follow up with a good point.

It was then Cork’s turn to slice open the Kerry defence and Mary Ellen Bolger got down smartly to save from Rachel Leahy although Emma Cleary did follow up to score the first of her two first half points.

Kerry popped over two points on the trot through Niamh Carmody and a Jadyn Lucey punch over. Katie Quirke replied for Cork, but Ní Chonchuir did the same for Kerry at the other end with a monster effort in the 15th minute.

Then Cork took over and started running at Kerry. Points followed from Emma Cleary, and two Quirke frees, although McMahon did force Richmond into her second good save in the 23rd minute.

Kerry rose again and with the wind strengthening hassled and harried Cork for all their worth, scoring  the final three points of the half. Lucey with her second, and Kerry’s first in 14 minutes, was followed by Ní Chonchúir and an Anna Galvin punch over to see the hosts take a 0-7 to 0-6 lead in at the half time break. A slender lead, it was felt,  considering Cork would have the strong breeze for the second half.

The elements made no difference to the home side as they tagged on the first five points of the second half through the brilliant Ní Chonchúir, Emma Costello, and two O’Shea punch overs and substitute Danielle O’Leary with another, her side’s eighth on the trot.

Then, in the 46th minute came Kerry’s goal when O’Shea sliced through the Cork defence before confidently burying the ball to the back of the net.

Aishling O’Connell, O’Leary, O’Shea from a free and McMahon raised further white flags before Cork finally troubled the scoreboard operator with two Quirke frees in the 57th minute.

It was all mere consolation though as Kerry strolled home to victory.

Scorers - Kerry: S O’Shea 1-3 (1f), N Ní Chonchúir 0-3, J Lucey 0-2, D O’Leary 0-2,  L McMahon 0-2, A Galvin 0-1,N Carmody 0-1, E Costello 0-1, ,A O’Connell 0-1.

Cork: K Quirke 0-5 (4f), E Cleary 0-2, R Corkery 0-1.

KERRY: ME Bolger; R Rahilly, D Kearney, E Lynch; A O’Connell, E Costello, A Dillane; A Galvin, M O’Connell; N Carmody, N Ni Chonchúir, C Evans; J Lucey, L McMahon, S O’Shea. Subs: E Ní Laighin for E Costello (13-17), D O’Leary for J Lucey (half-time), E Ní |Laighin for R Rahilly (half-time), L Boyle for E Costello (53), M O’Connor for N Carmody (57), N Quinn for C Evans (57).

CORK: C Richmond; M Duggan, S Callanan, S Kelly; A Corcoran, S McGoldrick, R Corkery; M O’Callaghan, A O’Mahony; R Leahy, K Redmond, E Cleary; L Hallihan, K Quirke, Á O’Sullivan. Subs: G Murphy for M O’Callaghan (38), R O’Regan for E Cleary (46), A Ring for R Leahy (50), K O’Driscoll for K Redmond (51), E Hurley for L Hallihan (57).

Referee: David Grogan (Limerick).

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