No answer for class Cork act

Cork 0-20   Clare 0-8

ALTHOUGH most of the Clare ladies gave their all against All-Ireland champions Cork in Shannon last Friday, the gulf in class is clear from the final scoreline. In Valerie Mulcahy, who scored 11 points, Cork had a player who Clare simply couldn’t handle, while the speed of their support play in the second half, helped the winners to pull away from Clare.

The home county only scored two points in the second half but they started impressively and led 0-4 to 0-1 in the early minutes. Eimear Considine, Eimear Hillery, Niamh O’Dea and Marie Considine kicked four excellent scores in response to an early Geraldine O’Flynn pointed free.

Valerie Mulcahy kicked nine successive points for Cork, with Niamh O’Dea the lone Clare player to manage a score in that spell. Perhaps Clare could have deployed an extra defender or two during this spell although if they had built a wall around Mulcahy, it probably wouldn’t have been enough to tame the Rockban attacker.

With half-time approaching Eimear Considine notched Clare’s sixth point, leaving Cork 0-10 to 0-6 ahead at half-time. Although four points adrift, Clare had produced some excellent first half football, with their attack looking slick when they got a decent supply of ball.

Clare stayed with Cork for the next 15 minutes with Ailish Considine and Niamh Keane, keeping Clare in touch. Mulcahy added 0-2 in this spell with Orlagh Farmer finishing a sublime Cork move with a point.

At 0-13 to 0-8 ahead, Cork upped the pace and tagged on seven points without reply.

Geraldine O’Flynn, Emma Farmer, Annie Walsh, Nollaig Cleary, Orla Finn, Briege Corkery and Mulcahy put over a point each in the closing quarter as Cork went on a rampage.

Clare did reasonably well at midfield, particularly in the opening half. Up front, Niamh O’Dea, the Considine sisters and Louise Henchy did their best to take the game to Cork.

Clare struggled defensively, however, and were in serious trouble when Cork ran at them. Part of the reason for this was because the Clare forwards or midfielders didn’t put sufficient pressure on Cork high up the field. Once they built up an overlap, it was very difficult for the backs to stop them.

If Clare are to seriously compete with Kerry on Saturday at 5pm in Scartaglin, they will have to work much harder all over the field. They have some very talented footballers but their application is not good enough when the opposition have possession. It’s asking a lot to turn that around inside a week but if Clare manage to do it, they will definitely compete with Kerry. Defeat this weekend will signal the end of county’s chances of getting to the Munster final.

Clare: Susan Higgins (Banner), Marie Foran (West Clare Gaels), Lorraine Kelly (Fergus Rovers), Niamh Cavanagh (Banner); Róisín Looney (Cooraclare), Fiona Lafferty (Donoughmoyne), Kayleigh McCormack (Burren Gaels); Marie Considine (Liscannor, captain), Niamh Keane (Banner); Louise Henchy (Banner), Niamh O’Dea (Banner), Shauna Harvey (West Clare Gaels); Ailish Considine (Kilmihil), Eimear Considine (Kilmihil), Eimear Hillary (Liscannor).
Subs: Róisín Howley (Burren Gaels) for Niamh Cavanagh, Amy O’Brien (Burren Gaels) for Shauna Harvey, Katie Connole (Burren Gaels) for Emer Hillery.
Scorers: Eimear Considine, Niamh O’Dea (0-2 each), Eimear Hillery, Marie Considine, Niamh Keane, Ailish Considine (0-1 each).
Wides: 1   Frees: 26
Cork: Lisa Crowley, Ann Marie Walsh, Bríd Stack, Aisling Barrett, Briege Corkery (0-1), Deirdre O’Reilly, Geraldine O’Flynn (0-2), Annie Walsh (0-1), Rena Buckley, Orlagh Farmer (0-1), Angela Walsh, Orla Finn (0-2), Valerie Mulcahy (0-11, 3f), Rhona Ní Bhuachalla, Nollaig Cleary (0-1).
Subs: Doireann O’Sullivan for Rhona Ní Bhuachalla, Emma Farmer for Orlagh Farmer, Martina O’Brien for Lisa Crowley, Jessica O’Shea for Ann Marie Walsh, Vera Foley for Briege Corkery.
Scorers: Valerie Mulcahy (0-11, 3f), Geraldine O’Flynn, Orla Finn (0-2 each), Briege Corkery, Annie Walsh, Emma Farmer, Nollaig Cleary, Doireann O’Sullivan (0-1 each).
Wides: 12   Frees: 14
Referee: Keith Delahunty (Tipperary).