Cork 3-10 Galway 0-12:THE EXPECTATION was that Cork and Galway in the opening All-Ireland senior semi-final would go to the wire.
And right down it went, in a manner the final scoreline distorts. Spectators in a sun-kissed Nowlan Park saw a gripping contest, where a gutsy Cork side rode their luck at times and, ultimately, came good down the home straight.
On 57 minutes, with the southerners a point ahead at 1-10 to 0-12, their tireless midfielder Jennifer O’Leary powered forward and offloaded to Katríona Mackey, who netted from close range.
Galway blanched at a four-point deficit so late in the day. Even so, they found a gilt-edged goal chance of their own two minutes later. However, Aislinn Connolly and Veronica Curtin contrived to miss the chance.
Deep into added time, Síle Burns landed a third goal, which made the margin deceptive.
It had all been so different.
On nine minutes, following a brilliant point by Curtin, Galway looked confident leaders at 0-6 to 0-2, even facing a fresh breeze. They were quicker to the ball, sharper to use it. But this fluency was never translated to the scoreboard.
Galway failed to score in the first half after the 17th minute. Centre back Gemma O’Connor got to grips with the menacing Niamh McGrath.
Briege Corkery, playing at full forward, goaled on 22 minutes, latching on to a breaking ball and planting the ball home. Four minutes later, Corkery added a point. This contribution lay at the heart of Cork’s unlikely half-time lead of 1-8 to 0-8.
The second half was neck and neck, with Galway still profligate in front of goal. Then a wonderful brace of points from Niamh Kilkenny in the 38th and 39th minutes reinvigorated their challenge at 1-9 to 0-10. They threatened to break through, but never did better than paring the margin to the minimum.
Cork stayed resolute.
Everything was right in the balance as O’Leary broke forward on that crucial late run.
CORK:A Murray; J Duffy, R Buckley, J O'Callaghan; P Mackey, G O'Connor (0-1), E O'Sullivan; J O'Leary (0-4, three frees), O Cotter; J Casey, L Dorgan, K Mackey (1-2); S Burns (1-1), B Corkery (1-1), K Buckley (0-1). Subs: A Geary for Buckley (36 mins), R Curtin for Dorgan (46 mins), F Neville for Casey (60 mins).
GALWAY:S Earner; S Tannian, S Dervan, L Ryan; S Cahalan, T Maher, R Glynn; N Kilkenny (0-2), AM Hayes; A Connolly (0-2), N McGrath (0-3, two frees), B Hanney; V Curtin (0-3), M Conroy (0-1), O Kilkenny (0-1). Subs: E Haverty for Glynn (44 mins), N Coen for O Kilkenny, O McGrath for Conroy (both 58 mins).
Referee:A Lagrue (Kildare).
