52


sport@eastcorkjournal.ie


“The Pressure We’re Under This Year, It’s An Absolute Honour To Have” – Cork Captain Aoife Murray


by DARAGH Ó CONCHÚIR


AOIFE MURRAY has dismissed any suggestion of Cork being affected ad- versely by the pressure of being Liberty Insurance All-Ireland Senior Camo- gie champions. One of the most experi-


enced and successful play- ers in top flight Camogie, this is


Murray has had the pleas- ure


of


the eighth season carrying


sure like such a


mantle. “People talk about pres- it’s a negative


thing” says Murray. “The pressure we’re under this year, it’s an absolute hon- our to have that pressure. “I would say, every team out there in


single


Senior, Intermediate and Junior would absolutely kill for this pressure we have. It’s one of the best pressures to have. I wish I had this every day rather than work!” Cork take on Tipper-


ary in a top-of-the-table Group 2 clash on Satur- day, and though the Re- bels had 13 points to spare over their next opponents


in the Munster Final at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on May 26th


, their skipper is


expecting a closer encoun- ter this time. “The Ragg is a tight


pitch and that’s going to be a dogfight. Tipper- ary will be out to get us after the Munster Final. It’s


three games on the


bounce after the two-week break so we have to focus on Tipp and take it from there.” With all the teams hav-


ing played two rounds, Cork are at the summit of the group with a superior


score difference of eight points. Cáit Devane has accu-


mulated 3-15 from two games


for Tipp and is


joint leading scorer for the championship with Lim- erick’s Niamh Mulcahy, who has 24 points from three outings. Cork have a more even


spread of contributors, and Orla Cronin, on 1-9, is joint top scorer for the Leesiders with Katrina Mackey, who has 2-6 to her credit. Cronin emphasises the importance of the collec-


tive in the Cork attack, while acknowledging that Tipp will be difficult to contain. “We’re always trying to


do the right thing, wheth- er it’s giving it to a person in the right position or tak- ing it when it’s on” Cronin explains. “It’s small things and if we can keep pro- gressing, they might come off better. “Tipp are going really


well, they’ve some really good forwards and a very good midfield so we’ll be looking forward to the test.”


Thursday, 5th


July 2018


• Aoife Murray (Cork). Photo by Dan Sheridan.


Second Half forward Shuffle Comes Up Trumps For Cork Munster Senior Hurling Final


Cork 2-24 Clare 3-19


Revenge is a dish best


served cold they say, but on Sunday last in Sem- ple Stadium, it was red- hot Cork that sizzled in the Thurles sun as they captured a 54th


Munster


Senior Hurling title. It was back to back wins for Cork who retained their title, while for Clare it was an- other hard pill to swallow after playing so well in the opening half. For Cork it was a second win over the Banner this year and it took a mighty second half display to turn the tide with team captain Seamie Harnedy coming up with a 58th


minute goal that set


Cork on their way to vic- tory.


The new championship


format in Munster has seen Tipperary and Wa- terford side-lined for the remainder of the season, and neither will be wait- ing in the long grass down the road, so the victor on Sunday would be in with a serious chance to take the “Liam McCarthy Cup” back from Galway. Cork named an un-


changed team from the Waterford match, but a much higher effort


was


required on this occasion as Clare came into this game on the back of three good wins. What we got was champagne


hurling


to match the occasion as both sides shone in the


Photos by DENIS O’FLYNN


sun, displaying fantastic skill with John Conlon and Peter Duggan on fire for Clare, while Patrick Hor- gan, Seamie Harnedy and Luke Meade were sizzling for Cork. The sides were level on four occasions in the opening quarter with Clare just edging in front with a David Reidy goal being the crucial score af- ter a defence splitting Tony Kelly run set him up with Clare in front by 1-6 to 0-6 after 17 minutes. The pace never slack- ened as Clare with Peter Duggan and John Conlon the go too men continued to lead and when a long free


from Donal Touhy


was doubled to the net by Peter Duggan, the Banner roar was heard as Clare led by eight points. Cork were


hanging in but a well taken goal by Luke Meade and a superb side-line cut from Mark Coleman left Cork trailing by 2-11 to 1-10 af- ter a terrific opening half. Damien Calahane was having a hard time on John Conlon as was Eoin Cado- gan on Peter Duggan, so one wondered would Cork change the defence for the second half. Instead the Cork man-


agement re-shuffled the attack and it paid a hand- some dividend as all of the Cork attack improved with Conor Lehane, Daragh Fitzgibbon, Mark Cole- man, Bill Cooper, Daniel Kearney along with Hor- gan and Harnedy leading the way as the Rebels shot 1-14 in that second half. In contrast Clare who had a


few smashing scores but they shot 13 wides in to- tal compared to just 7 for Cork and that was a big factor at the finish as was John Conlon who was wrecking -havoc in the opening half but failed to score in the second -half.. Once Harnedy had put Cork in front they pushed on adding five points and while Ian Galvin made it a two point game with a late goal. Cork had done just enough to claim the title for a 54th


time, while


for Clare it was a case of so near yet so far again on this occasion. They certainly played their part in making this a superb decider but to the victor go the spoils as Cork move into the All -Ireland semi-final and one step closer to the “Liam


McCarthy” Cup. Cork: P Horgan 0-11,


S Harnedy 1-4, L Meade 1-1, D Fitzgibbon 0-2, M Coleman 0-2, D Kearney 0-2, B Cooper and C Le- hane 0-1 each. Clare: P Duggan 1-7, D


Reidy 1-2, I Galvin 1-0, J Conlon 0-5, P Collins 0-2, T Kelly and C McGrath 0-1 each. Cork: Anthony Nash,


Sean O’Donoghue, Dam- ien Calahane, Colm Spillane,


Christopher


Joyce, Eoin Cadogan, Mark Coleman, Daragh Fitzgibbon, Bill Cooper, Daniel Kearney, Conor Lehane, Seamie Harnedy Capt, Luke Meade, Shane Kingston and Patrick Hor- gan. Subs used Robbie O´Flynn for S Kingston 58m, Michael Calahane


for L Meade 63m, Lorcain McLoughlin for D Kear- ney 65m, Dean Brosnan for L McLoughlin 68m injd.


Clare Donal Tuohy,


Patrick O´Connor Capt, David McInerney, Jack Browne, Seadna Morey, Conor Cleary, Jamie Shan- ahan, Colm Galvin, Cath- al Malone, Peter Duggan, Tony Kelly, David Reidy, Podge Collins, John Con- lon and Shane O´Donnell. Subs used Jason McCarthy for C Malone 50m, Conor McGrath for S O´Donnell 55m, David Fitzgerald for J Shanahan 58m, Dara Corry for


62m and Ian Galvin for C Cleary 67m. Referee James McGrath,


Westmeath.


D Fitzgerald


• Cork team V Clare in Munster SHC Final. Tel: 021 463 8000 • Email: sport@eastcorkjournal.ie • Web: www.eastcorkjournal.ie eastcorkjournal @eastcorkjournal / #eastcorkjournal


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80