Cork’s experience wins against improved Clare side

Cork 3-16

Clare 0-10

AT first glance, it appears to be a convincing win for Cork and while they deserved victory, the final scoreline in this All-Ireland senior camogie championship first-round tie at Clooney on Saturday is flattering in their favour.
Given that Cork had  recorded a 6-12 to 0-3 win over Clare when the teams met in the provincial final a month earlier, Clare were wary approaching Saturday’s tie.
To their credit, the Clare outfit showed a huge improvement but the greater experience of Cork won the day. However, the visitors had to fight hard for everything on this occasion and if Clare can continue to show improvement, they must be given a chance of picking up a few wins in the campaign, which would give them a shout at getting to the play-offs.
There was little between the sides in the opening half when a fortunate goal two minutes from the break helped the visitors to lead 1-7 to 0-6 when Dublin official Eamonn Mac Suibhne sounded the half-time whistle.
Cork had a few outstanding players who proved decisive on the day. Forwards Jennifer O’Leary and Síle Burns caused a lot of problems for Clare and, between them, the contributed 3-11 of their side’s total. Orla Cotter was another to excel for the winners, winning a lot of possession at midfield.
The visitors took an early two-point lead through O’Leary and Eimear O’Sullivan before Claire McMahon opened the home side’s account. It was 0-4 to 0-2 for the winners at the end of the first quarter before Deirdre Murphy from play and Claire McMahon (free) tied up the game for the first time in the 18th minute.
Clare went in front three minutes later when Chloe Morey landed a huge long-range free but a Síle Burns effort from play and another O’Leary free had the winners back in front, 0-6 to 0-5 with five minutes remaining in the half.
A defensive blunder by Clare presented Cork with the opening goal and Síle Burns made no mistake two minutes from half-time. Chloe Morey and Síle Burns swapped points to leave the score at 1-7 to 0-6 at the interval.
Points were exchanged again at the start of the second half before Burns, with a superb strike, had the visitor’s second goal. Points were then exchanged twice before the end of the third quarter at which stage, the score stood at 2-10 to 0-9.
When Clare were harshly penalised when on the attack, Cork launched a counter-attack, which ended with a third goal from Burns and this proved to be a killer blow for Clare.
In the final quarter, Cork held the upperhand and outscored the home side 1-6 to 0-1, producing a final scoreline, which doesn’t accurately reflect Clare’s efforts on the day
Siobhán Lafferty, Chloe Morey and Kate Lynch battled bravely throughout in the Clare defence while elsewhere, Fiona Lafferty, Claire McMahon and Deirdre Murphy caused problems for the favourites.
Elaine O’Riordan, Gemma O’Connor, Orla Cotter, Jennifer O’Leary and Síle Burns were always prominent for Cork.

Cork: Aoife Murray; Jenny Duffy, Rena Buckley (captain), Pamela Mackey; Elaine O’Riordan, Gemma O’Connor, Anna Geary; Briege Corkery, Orla Cotter; Eimear O’Sullivan, Linda Dorgan, Jennifer O’Leary; Síle Burns, Denise Cronin, Katriona Mackey.
Sub: Joanne Casey for O’Sullivan.
Scorers: Síle Burns (3-4, 0-1f); Jennifer O’Leary (0-7, 0-6f); Briege Corkery, Orla Cotter (free), Katriona Mackey, Eimear O’Sullivan (0-1 each).
Frees for: 22; wides: 9.
Clare: Susan Vaughan; Helen McMahon, Siobhán Lafferty (captain), Aimee McInerney; Ruth Kaiser, Chloe Morey, Kate Lynch; Fiona Lafferty, Aisling Hannon; Sinéad O’Loughlin, Sharon McMahon, Áine O’Brien; Claire McMahon, Deirdre Murphy, Shónagh Enright.
Subs: Mairéad Scanlan for O’Loughlin; Claire
Commane for C McMahon, Eireann Hennessey for Aisling Hannon.
Scorers: Claire McMahon (0-7, 0-6f); Chloe Morey (0-2f); Deirdre Murphy (0-1).
Frees for: 21; wides: 3.
Bookings: Chloe Morey (56 minutes).
Referee: Eamonn McSuibhne, Dublin.
**In other first-round games, the results were: Kilkenny 4-14 Offaly 2-11;  Tipperary 3-12 Dublin 0-12;  Galway 2-14 Wexford 0-9.