2020 TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Football Senior Championship Final – Dublin 1-10 Cork 1-5

Dublin defeated Cork by 1-10 to 1-5 in the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Football Senior Championship Final on Sunday December 20th at Croke Park.

Dublin 1-10 Cork 1-5

By DECLAN ROONEY

Dublin won their fourth TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship in a row as a powerful second-half display and Carla Rowe’s penalty got them past Cork at Croke Park.

A goal from Áine Terry O’Sullivan early on gave Cork a brilliant start, but despite leading by three points at the interval, they could only add two second-half points as Dublin took charge.

Rowe’s 35th minute penalty gave Dublin a lead they never relinquished, and Mick Bohan’s side finished strongly to reclaim the Brendan Martin Cup.

Both teams finished with 14 players following late sin-binnings for Doireann O’Sullivan and Lauren Magee, but there was no denying Dublin.

The champions were boosted with Sinead Aherne shaking off the effects of the hamstring injury that ended her semi-final involvement against Armagh, but she was uncharacteristically off target with a first-minute free.

Cork showed their cutting edge at the other end two minutes later when Ciara O’Sullivan and Doireann O’Sullivan linked up well, before Áine Terry O’Sullivan cut in from the right and unleashed an unstoppable drive into the top corner in a dream start for the challengers.
Nicole Owens got Dublin up and running with a point after four minutes, but Bohan’s side were guilty of some wayward shooting in that first half with six wides to their name by the interval.

At the opposite end Cork were efficient and Áine Terry O’Sullivan added to her early goal with a point laid on by Hannah Looney.
Orla Finn shot one of two Cork wides in that opening half, but she rounded off a superb move by the Cork forwards with a score that put them 1-2 to 0-1 clear.

With the Cork wing forwards providing excellent width there was a lot of space for runner like Ciara O’Sullivan to attack, and they came close to adding to their tally on a couple of occasions. But Dublin were getting success running at Cork too, and when Martina O’Brien denied Owens and Noelle Healy shot inches wide, two goal chances went unclaimed by Dublin.

An Aherne free and a Healy point closed the deficit to two points 12 minutes before the break, but Cork finished the half well with a Finn free following some patient play, which was launched by Saoirse Noonan’s interception in her own half-back line.

Cork were 1-3 to 0-3 ahead at half time and a Finn free crashed back off the post early in the half as they sought to stretch their advantage, but instead a score from Aoife Kane cut Dublin’s deficit to two points.

Three minutes later Dublin reclaimed the lead when Rowe converted a penalty, after she was fouled by O’Brien as she closed in on goal.
With Jennifer Dunne and Lauren Magee making a big impact in the third quarter Dublin continued to dominate, and a free from Rowe pushed them two points clear.

That lead was three after another driving run from Kane earned a free, which Rowe scored, but Cork finally got their first point of the second half in the 44th minute following a quick free by Doireann O’Sullivan, which Ciara O’Sullivan pointed.

Kate Sullivan, who replaced Aherne at the interval, got on the scoresheet with a good point after 50 minutes following a powerful turnover from Sinead Goldrick, and although Finn hit back from a free, Owens restored Dublin’s three-point lead.

Cork lost their captain Doireann O’Sullivan to the sin bin four minutes from time and Magee followed her shortly after, and the champions made sure of victory when Healy landed her second point a minute later.

Scorers – Dublin: C Rowe 1-3 (1-0 pen, 3f), N Owens 0-2, N Healy 0-2, S Aherne 0-1 (1f), A Kane 0-1, K Sullivan 0-1
Cork: A O’Sullivan 1-1, O Finn 0-3 (2f), C O’Sullivan 0-1

Dublin: C Trant; A Kane, N Collins, M Byrne; L Caffrey, S McGrath, S Goldrick; L Magee, J Dunne; N Owens, N McEvoy, C Rowe; S Aherne (c), N Healy, L Davey.
Subs: K Sullivan for Aherne (h-t), S McCaffrey for McEvoy (47), O Nolan for Kane (47), C O’Connor for Owens (58), S Aherne for Davey (60).

Cork: M O’Brien; M Duggan, R Phelan, E Meaney; E O’Shea, A Hutchings, S Kelly; M O’Callaghan, H Looney; E Kiely, Á O’Sullivan, O Finn; C O’Sullivan, D O’Sullivan (c), S Noonan.
Subs: N Cotter for E Kiely (43), S O’Leary for Finn (53), L Coppinger for Noonan (53), A Kelleher for Meaney (60), M Cahalane to Kelly (60).

Referee: Jonathan Murphy (Carlow)

Match Coverage

🏆Craobh TG4 i bPeil na mBan

🏐Cluiche Ceannais Idirmheánach na hÉireann
➡️@westmeath_gaa v @MeathGAA

🏐Cluiche Ceannais Sinsir na hÉireann
➡️@dublinladiesg v @CorkLGFA

⏰ Dé Domhnaigh 13:00 ar @tg4tv#proper fan #20×20 @20x20_ie pic.twitter.com/1PwobTOVHz

— GAA BEO TG4 (@GAA_BEO) December 15, 2020

Match Programme

Here's the Sunday matchday programme for the 2020 @TG4TV All-Ireland Intermediate & Senior Championship Finals

💚💛@meathladiesMLGF v @WestmeathLadies 🇱🇻

🔴⚪ @CorkLGFA v @dublinladiesg 👕

Both games live on TG4 and worldwide https://t.co/4C0CvKHTMohttps://t.co/gsHoMSE0Xo

— Ladies Football (@LadiesFootball) December 18, 2020

Team News

There’s one change for Dublin from the semi-final victory over Armagh – with Niamh McEvoy replacing Sarah McCaffrey.
Cork are unchanged from the team that accounted for Galway at the semi-final stage.

Cork (v Dublin): M O’Brien; E Meaney, R Phelan, S Kelly; M Duggan, A Hutchings, E O’Shea; M O’Callaghan, H Looney; E Kiely, C O’Sullivan, O Finn; Á O’Sullivan, D O’Sullivan (capt.), S Noonan.

Dublin (v Cork): C Trant; M Byrne, N Collins, A Kane; L Caffrey, S McGrath, S Goldrick; L Magee, J Dunne; N Healy, L Davey, C Rowe; S Aherne (capt.), N McEvoy, N Owens.

Match Preview

Cork v Dublin – Croke Park, 3.30pm – Live on TG4 and worldwide on the TG4 Player: http://bit.ly/37oJ7a1

FOUR-in-a-row for Dublin – or Cork’s first title since 2016?

All will be revealed at Croke Park on Sunday afternoon, as the two counties contest the 2020 TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship Final.
Dublin are aiming for a fifth title in all (2010 was their breakthrough success), while Cork were winners 11 times between 2005 and 2016.
Between them, Cork and Dublin have carved up the last 15 All-Ireland Senior title wins – and that run will extend to 16 as the old rivals lock horns once again on the big day.
Dublin and Cork met first in a Senior Final in 2009, won by Cork, and they contested three successive Finals in 2014, 2015 and 2016, all three of those won by Cork also.
Dublin finally broke that hoodoo with a 2018 Final victory over the Leesiders, and followed up with another notable Croke Park success last year, when the Sky Blues won the clash between the counties at the semi-final stage.

Both sides have shown good form en route to another Final meeting. Cork scored a crucial group victory over Munster rivals Kerry to kick-start their campaign, before Áine Terry O’Sullivan’s hat-trick of goals helped Ephie Fitzgerald’s side to a 7-9 to 2-6 win against Cavan, to book a slot in the semi-finals.
At Croke Park last time out, Cork went through the gears against Galway, nine points from Orla Finn, and goals from Ciara O’Sullivan and Melissa Duggan sending them through to the Final.
Finn is out in front as Cork’s leading scorer with 1-17, followed by Saoirse Noonan (3-4), Áine Terry O’Sullivan (3-3), team captain Doireann O’Sullivan (0-8), and sister Ciara (1-4).
In total, Cork have had nine different scorers in Championship 2020, collecting a total of 10-40, and conceding 2-33 along the way.

Dublin, in contrast, have bagged 5-43 in their three matches to date, while conceding 6-28, three of those goals against Armagh in the recent semi-final.
Dublin’s 3-13, including 2-4 for Carla Rowe, was good enough for victory against the Orchard County, who deposited 3-8 at Kingspan Breffni.
That five-point winning margin was Dublin’s biggest in the Championship, as they got past Donegal in the opening round by three, before seeing off Waterford by four.
Captain Sinéad Aherne has been led the way with a total of 1-13, followed by Rowe (2-7), Noelle Healy (1-5), Nicole Owens (1-0) and Sarah McCaffrey (0-3).
Dublin have the ability, however, to contribute scores from so many areas of the pitch, with 15 different players on the scoreboard over the course of three games.
It was Dublin’s ability to score goals – two of them – that proved the difference at Croke Park in the 2019 semi-final.

Cork, with ten green flags to date, will feel that they will need to get more on Sunday in an attempt to topple the Champions.
Just two counties in the history of the Senior Championship have claimed four successive titles during winning runs – Cork and Kerry – and Dublin, appearing in a seventh straight Final, have the chance to join that elite band.