TG4 Munster Ladies Football Senior Championship Final – Cork 3-12 Kerry 2-9

Clinical Cork canter to ninth title in-a-row

Cork 3-12 Kerry 2-09

By Ian Cusack for the Irish Examiner newspaper

Cork survived a brave fightback from Kerry to claim their ninth consecutive Munster Ladies SFC title in Páirc Uí Rinn on Saturday. Goals from Juliet Murphy and Emma Farmer in the opening quarter looked to have killed off the Kerry challenge before it ever got going and by half-time, Megan O’Connell’s point was all that the visitors had produced.

A combination of Cork complacency and steely determination from Kerry ensured a different and compelling second-half with goals from O’Connell and Lousie Ní Mhuircheartaigh bringing the Kingdom back into it. But this Cork team haven’t won six of the last seven All-Ireland titles by throwing away commanding leads, and they were able to up their game in the final quarter. An expertly taken Valerie Mulcahy penalty put the result beyond doubt with seven minutes remaining.

Despite the win, Cork boss Eamonn Ryan had admitted to some concerns about the display. He explained: “It’s great to get the win but the second-half performance was disappointing. We were very pleased with the first-half, we did everything that we wanted to do. It is hard when you have a big lead but in the second-half we seemed to sit back and we were getting a bit uneasy for a while, but we came back strongly in the end. The victory was the main thing. But the way we sat back in the second-half is a bit worrying.”

Cork took command from the throw-in but they were guilty of wasting some early chances. The hosts hit four wides before Murphy broke the deadlock with a goal on 10 minutes, making no mistake from close range. Just three minutes later Cork had their second goal after Farmer ghosted past three defenders and goalkeeper Edel Murphy to tap into an empty net.

Bernie Breen was working hard in midfield for the Kingdom and Ní Mhuircheartaigh looked hungry for work in attack but they were living off scraps as the likes of Murphy, Annie Walsh and Norita Kelly kept Cork on the front foot. An Orlaith Farmer effort followed by a brace from Murphy and Mulcahy saw Cork take a 2-6 to 0-1 lead into the break with Kerry seemingly playing for pride.

Mulcahy raised two more white flags after the restart but Kerry were playing with greater belief and a point from O’Connell was followed by three without reply from the All-Ireland champions. The comeback intensified when Ní Mhuircheartaigh fisted into the Cork net on 50 minutes. Cork weren’t prepared to simply let the clock win them the game however and Farmer would have netted just two minutes later but she was dragged to the ground by goalkeeper Murphy. Mulcahy coolly sent her spot kick into the top left corner, stretching the lead out to 10 points. Kerry refused to surrender and O’Connell took her tally to 1-2 with a fine goal in the 58th minute. But it was too little too late for the Kingdom and points from Murphy and Ciara O’Sullivan sealed a ninth consecutive Munster title for Cork.

Scorers for Cork: V Mulcahy 1-6 (1P, 2f), J Murphy 1-3 (3f), E Farmer 1-0, O Farmer, R Ní Bhuachalla and C O’Sullivan 0-1 each.

Scorers for Kerry: M O’Connell 1-2, L Ní Mhuirchearaigh 1-2 (1f), S Houlihan 0-4 (1f), P Dennehy 0-1.

CORK: E Harte; A Walsh; B Stack, D O’Reilly; B Corkery, N Kelly, G O’Flynn; J Murphy, A Walsh; O Farmer, G Kearney, C O’Sullivan; V Mulcahy; E Farmer, R Ní Bhuacalla.

Subs: L MacMahon for E Farmer(48), A Sheehan for Ní Bhuachalla (52), A Barrett for Corkery (59), A Hutchings for Walsh (59).

KERRY: E Murphy; C Lynch, A Leonard, A Lyons; E Sherwood, A Desmond, C Kelly; M O’Connell, B Breen; S Joy, L Gavin, S Houlihan; L Ní Mhuircheartaigh, D Corridan, P Dennehy.

Subs: A Galvin for Joy (45).

Referee: K Delahunty (Tipperary).