UPDATED 17.16
All-Ireland ladies football semi-final
Cork 5-16 Armagh 2-11
AN EXCEPTIONALLY CLINICAL display from Cork has powered them into yet another All-Ireland ladies football final. What made Cork so dominant in their 5-16 to 2-11 victory over Armagh in Glennon Brothers Pearse Park was the variety of contributors, from star Valerie Mulcahy (1-7) to substitute Nollaig Cleary (1-3).
Armagh had started the game brightly with Commonwealth Games athlete Caroline O’Hanlon bagging 1-2 to give her side an early lead.
But Cork star Valerie Mulcahy kept the scoreboard ticking over with three early frees to ensure her team remained in touch. Then, the defending champions showed how devastating they could be as they rattled off 2-3 without reply, with goals from Ciara O’Sullivan and Grace Kearney being supplemented by points from Orla Finn (two) and Valerie Mulcahy.
Armagh fought back with points from Kelly Mallon and Niamh Henderson to reduce the deficit to five but Cork kicked on further in the second half.
Cleary was devastating off the bench and Valerie Mulcahy and Rhona Ni Bhuachalla raised further green flags to add to Armagh’s misery, although they did score one themselves through Siobhan Mackie late on.
Scorers for Armagh: C O’Hanlon 1-4 (1-0 pen, 0-1f), S Mackle 1-0, F McKenna 0-3 (0-1f), S McCleary 0-2, N Henderson & K Mallon 0-1 each.
Scorers for Cork: V Mulcahy 1-7 (0-5f), N Cleary 1-3, C O’Sullivan, G Kearney & R Ní Bhuachalla 1-0 each, O Finn 0-3, G O’Flynn 0-2, B Corkery 0-1.
ARMAGH: K Daly; M Tennyson, C Morgan, L Kenny; S Reel, N Marley, R O’Reilly; C O’Hanlon, N Henderson; S McCleary, F McKenna, A McCoy; L McConville, K Mallon, M McAlinden.
Subs: S Marley for O’Reilly (23), S Mackle for McAlinden (34), M McGuinness for Kenny (43), C Murray for McConville (45), S Feeney for McKenna (51).
CORK: M O’Brien; R Phelan, Angela Walsh, B Stack; V Foley, D O’Reilly, G O’Flynn; R Buckley, B Corkery; Annie Walsh, C O’Sullivan, O Farmer; V Mulcahy, G Kearney, O Finn.
Subs: N Cleary for Kearney (35), R Ní Bhuachalla for O Farmer (42), A Barrett for Buckley (49), E Farmer for Finn (49), N Kelly for Phelan (52).
Referee: G Chapman (Sligo).
