Ladies see off Mayo to qualify for semi-finals
Cork 4-16 Mayo 2-5
CORK manager Ephie Fitzgerald saluted his side’s fighting spirit as they pulled clear of a determined Mayo in the final stages to qualify for the Lidl NFL Division 1 semi-final.
Just three points separates the top four teams in the division, but Cork, Dublin, Donegal and Galway are all guaranteed semi-finals berths after Fitzgerald’s side ended Mayo’s hopes.
Niamh Cotter, Doireann O’Sullivan, Orla Farmer and Rhona Ní Bhuachalla all scored goals for Cork, who were pushed hard by Mayo, for whom Emma Needham and Sinead Cafferky hit the net.
“We started the game sluggishly and that’s not like us,” said Cork manager Fitzgerald. “The second half was more of a reflection of how we played, but we can’t be waiting for 30 minutes to start performing. I am delighted with the girls, the response from them was excellent. Dioreann (O’Sullivan) got a great goal and that relaxed us, and from there we played really well.”
Those Cotter, O’Sullivan, Farmer and Ní Bhucalla goals helped secure Cork’s place in the semi-fi- nal despite a strong showing from Mayo in the first-half, which included an Emma Needham goal. Sinead Cafferky scored their second after the break, but despite having three players sin-binned Cork powered to the win.
Mayo cannot now reach the last four and they are safe from relegation, but the return of Sarah Rowe for the first time following her stint playing Australian Rules is a lift for Peter Leahy’s side.
A strong wind was blowing at MacHale Park and after winning the toss, Mayo captain Niamh Kelly elected to play into it for the firsthalf. Leahy was no doubt happy with his side’s general play in that opening period, but the five wides they kicked in the first 20 minutes meant they didn’t get the reward they deserved.
After a tight opening saw Dayna Finn and Niamh Cotter miss goal chances at either end, it was Orla Finn who found the target first with three frees in a row to put Cork in the ascendency.
Mayo’s first point didn’t arrive until the 17th minute when Grace Kelly slotted a free following a foul on Rachel Kearns, while a similar infringement by Hannah Looney on Kearns saw Kelly double her tally four minutes later.
Cork had looked threatening down the left side of Mayo’s defence and Daire Kiely came close to scoring, but in the 22nd minute Cotter’s shot from the right dipped in over Michelle Treacy to put Cork 1-3 to 0-2 ahead.
That lead was stretched to six points when Doireann O’Sullivan and Ciara O’Sullivan pointed, but Mayo finished the half brilliantly. A superb Grace Kelly point from play was followed by her fourth free of the half, and with the half drawing to a close their hopes were lifted.
A cynical pull down of Tamara O’Connor saw Eimear Meaney sin-binned and Mayo awarded a penalty. Kearns’s kick was saved well by Martina O’Brien, but Emma Needham was quickest to the loose ball and she forced it over the line.
With wind advantage to come Mayo only trailed by 1-6 to 1-5 at half-time, but Cork started the half with 13 players when Daire Kiely was yellow carded for a swinging arm tackle on Finn in the final action of the opening half.
And with Ephie Fitzgerald’s side flooding their defence and breaking quickly while they were two players down they built their lead out to four points with three unanswered scores, but a 38th minute goal from Sinead Cafferky put Mayo back in touch.
But Cork went straight down the other end of the field and Doireann O’Sullivan’s cracking strike to the net slowed Mayo’s charge, and after Doireann O’Sullivan and Mayo’s Kathryn Sullivan were sinbinned, Orla Finn’s free scoring signed off the win.
SCORERS
CORK: O Finn 0-8 (6f), D O’Sullivan 1-2, N Cotter 1-1, R Ní Bhuachalla 1-1, O Farmer 1-1, C O’Sullivan 0-2, L Cleary 0-1
MAYO: G Kelly 0-5 (4f), E Needham 1-0, S Cafferky 1-0
CORK: M O’Brien; E Meaney, H Looney, M Duggan; D Kiely, A Hutchings, E Kiely; M O’Callaghan, N Cotter; O Farmer, E Spillane, C O’Sullivan; E Scally, D O’Sullivan, O Finn. Subs: R Ní Bhuachalla for D Kiely (41), M Cahalane for Spillane (55), C O’Shea for E Kiely (60), S O’Leary for Finn (60), L Cleary for Farmer (60).
MAYO: M Treacy; R Flynn, N O’Malley, F McManamon; Ciara McManamon, Clodagh McManamon, K Sullivan; S Cafferky, D Finn; T O’Connor, E Needham, N Kelly; G Kelly, R Kearns, F Doherty. Subs: N Gaughan for F McManamon (h-t), L Cafferky for O’Connor (40), S Rowe for Needham (49), R Durkin for N Kelly (49), L McManamon for Finn (53), A Sheridan for O’Malley (53), R Waldron for Kearns (57).
REFEREE: Gus Chapman (Sligo)