Duffy in covert operation for Cork

REIGNING champions Wexford put their All-Ireland senior camogie title on the line when they face Cork in this afternoon’s semi-final in Nowlan Park (4pm).

Wexford have displayed good form this season as they claimed league honours back in April against Galway while only scoring difference stopped them from finishing top of the table after the round-robin stages of the championship.

Ursula Jacob, Una Leacy and Evelyn Quigley will share the scoring burden as they aim to repeat their 2007 All-Ireland camogie final triumph over the Rebels, while Michelle O’Leary and Kate Kelly are key figures at midfield.

Cork will be aiming to atone for their three-point defeat in round two of the group stages when Wexford triumphed by 0-14 to 1-8 in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Rena Buckley will captain the Cork side from centre-back with Jenny Duffy and Anna Geary also lining out in defence, while Orla Cotter and Gemma O’Connor combine well at midfield.

In attack, Briege Corkery, Jennifer O’Leary and Síle Burns carry the mantle to put scores on the board.

Cork defender Duffy is in a unique position of having the inside track on their opponents as her day job sees her work as a camogie development officer in the south Leinster area.

“It’s interesting this week,” she said. “Every time I get a phone call, there’s talk about how I’m set for the game. I work very closely with the Kilkenny and Wexford county boards. I’d be down in both counties a lot with work as well. So I know a lot of the people that I’ll be coming across on the pitch first of all and people on the sideline as well. They’re great people to work with.

“It’s great banter this week about the game and while it’s tough being on opposite sides of the fence, you just have to get on with it really.”

Last year was the first time since 2001 that Cork were not challenging on All-Ireland senior camogie final day. That fact has been a driving force in their efforts this season to get back to that level, according to Duffy.

“Last year was our first year in 10 years I think not reaching the All-Ireland final. That was a hard blow. It’s only after you realise how tough that was and how tough it is to actually get there.

“I suppose when you come into a set up that automatically gets to an All-Ireland final every year, it’s a bit of a wake-up call then when you don’t reach it. You need to get the finger out and start working harder then.”

The curtain-raiser to this clash is the other semi-final tie between Kilkenny and Galway in Nowlan Park at 2pm. Galway finished top of the table after the group stages and demonstrated their scoring power in their last game when they dismantled Tipperary by 3-20 to 1-11.

Sandra Tannian, Veronica Curtin, Jessica Gill, Tara Rutledge and Aisling Connolly supply the firepower as last season’s beaten finalists seek to return to this year’s decider on September 11.

Standing in Galway’s path is a Kilkenny team seeking to get back to the final after last participating at that stage in 2009.

When the teams clashed in Duggan Park in Ballinasloe in July, Galway got the better of Kilkenny by 0-12 to 0-9.

Kilkenny will enter this clash with good momentum on the back of their 2-16 to 1-13 victory over Cork in the last round with Edel Maher, Michelle Quilty and Marie Dargan all in fine scoring form.

Picture: DEEP UNDERCOVER: Jenny Duffy spends her time as a camogie development officer in south Leinster where she has links with many of the players she’ll be facing this afternoon.