Cork 2-12
Donegal 1-10

Ger McCarthy reports at Clane

DOREANN O’SULLIVAN scored 1-5 as Cork withstood a second half comeback to get their TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship campaign off to a winning start with victory over Donegal in Clane.

Fresh from their Munster final success, Shane Ronayne’s side picked up a merited Group D victory thanks to a terrific first half performance.

Donegal bit back in the second half however, outscoring their opponents eight points to three. It still wasn’t enough to prevent a Cork victory at the end of a scrappy encounter.
An explosive start saw Libby Coppinger split the posts with Cork’s first attack. Orla Finn and Yvonne Bonner found the net at either end immediately after, to cap off a cracking early period.

Ciara O’Sullivan and Laura O’Mahony efforts stretched Cork’s lead prior to Meabh O’Sullivan producing two saves of the highest quality to deny Donegal.

Cork dominated the remainder of the half with Ciara O’Sullivan setting up her sister Doireann for a well-taken 9th minute goal.

Geraldine McLaughlin and Karen Guthrie (free) scores were Donegal’s only replies before going in at half-time, 2-9 to 1-2 behind.

A disappointing third quarter failed to produce a score from open play. Donegal used a succession of Geraldine McLaughlin and Karen Guthrie frees to eat into their opponent’s lead and there was only a goal in it with 10 minutes left to play.

Meabh Cahalane and Nicole McLaughlin were sin-binned in the closing stages where three Doireann O’Sullivan scores helped Cork win it out.

Scorers for Cork: D O’Sullivan 1-5 (0-3f), O Finn 1-1, C O’Sullivan 0-2, LCoppinger 0-1, L O’Mahony 0-1, A T O’Sullivan 0-1, S Leahy 0-1.

Scorers for Donegal: G McLaughlin 0-5 (0-4f), K Guthrie 0-4 (0-4f), Y Bonner 1-0, N McLaughlin 0-1.

Cork: M O’Sullivan; R Phelan, E Meaney, M Ambrose; M Duggan, M O’Callaghan, L O’Mahony; B O’Sullivan, S Leahy; E Cleary, C O’Sullivan, L Coppinger; Á T O’Sullivan, D O’Sullivan, O Finn.

Subs: M Cahalane for Ambrose (38), E Scally for Á T O’Sullivan (42), K Quirke for Coppinger (45), R Leahy for B O’Sullivan (45), A Hutchings for Cleary (57).

Donegal: R McCafferty; N Carr, E McGinley, T Kennedy; S Twohig, N McLaughlin, A B Carr; K Herron, N McLaughlin; Y Bonner, N Hegarty, N Boyle; S McFadden, K Guthrie, G McLaughlin

Subs: R Rodgers for McFadden (60).

Referee: B Redmond (Wexford).

Dublin 1-11
Tipperary 0-6

Aisling Clery reports at Templetuohy.

Nicole Owens hit 1-2 as Dublin qualified for the TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship quarter-finals following their win over Tipperary at Templetuohy.

Dublin were three ahead, thanks to Owens’ goal in the opening half, and while they found the stringent Tipperary defence difficult to deal with, their patience and dominance in possession ensured victory.

Dublin were on top in the opening half but scores were at a premium. The game’s opening point came through a Carla Rowe free on five minutes before an Emma Morrissey free levelled the scoreboard.

Owens added her third goal in two games on eight minutes when she dispossessed the Tipperary defence and broke through to go one-on-one with Lauren Fitzpatrick, the St Sylvesters player made no mistake with her finish.

Twelve minutes passed before Niamh Hetherton pushed Dublin into a five-point lead with her first score. The Leinster champions should have been further ahead, Rowe’s goal effort was their best chance but it was turned around the post by Fitzpatrick. Jennifer Dunne and Owens also saw their efforts go wide.

Tipperary ended the half strongly and an Angela McGuigan point on 28 minutes reduced the gap to four. They also added a free from Morrissey to leave three between the sides at half-time.

On the resumption, Jodi Egan swapped points with Morrissey before Hetherton pushed the gap to four with her second score. Tipperary continued to press and were rewarded with points from Clara English and Sarah Ryan to make it a two-point game.

As both teams made their changes, the introduction of Hannah Tyrrell proved fruitful as her free from distance extended the Dublin lead. And despite Tipperary’s dominance of the third quarter, Dublin finished strongly. Owens hit her second point from play to push the lead to five.

In the final five minutes, Dublin hit a flurry of scores to seal it; Siobhan Woods, Tyrrell, Natalia Hyland and Hetherton all scored to secure Dublin’s place in the knockout stages with a big game against Mayo looming.

Scorers for Dublin: N Owen 1-2, N Hetherton 0-3, H Tyrrell 0-2 (1f), C Rowe 0-1 (1f), J Egan 0-1, S Woods 0-1, N Hyland 0-1.

Scorers for Tipperary: E Morrissey 0-3 (3f), C English 0-1, A McGuigan 0-1, S Ryan 0-1.

Dublin: A Shiels; T Quinn Corbally, N Collins, H Leahy; O Nolan, S Woods, E Gribben; L Magee, J Dunne; N Owens, N Hetherton, S Wylde; C Rowe, S Killeen, J Egan.

Subs: N Hyland for Rowe (30), H Tyrrell for Killeen (41), C O’Connor for Wylde (41), K McDaid for Dunne (43), M Byrne for Nolan (45).

Tipperary: L Fitzpatrick; A O’Shea, M Curley, E Cronin; L Spillane, N Martin, M Murphy; C O’Dwyer, C English; N Martin, M Creedon, E Kelly; C Hennessy, A McGuigan, E Morrissey.

Subs: L O’Shea for Hennessy (13), S Ryan for Curley (21), R Kiely for L O’Shea (46), G Moloney for Murphy (50), S Quirke for A O’Shea (53).

Referee: Jonathan Murphy (Carlow).

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