Paudie Murray: We were confident Cork youngsters would step up to the mark

Cork’s manager Paudie Murray, with his team after the All-Ireland semi-final victory against Kilkenny in Croke Park, has said: ‘Once we got a clear run at it, we were confident that a number of these girls would step up’. Picture: INPHO/James Crombie

Cork's All-Ireland camogie semi-final win confirmed what manager Paudie Murray had been observing all summer: the coming of age of his panel’s youngest members.

Their timing, in truth, could not have been better, the team’s newest recruits — on their first afternoon playing senior championship in Croke Park — displaying a level of maturity and composure far beyond their years to help dump out All-Ireland champions Kilkenny and, in the process, end Cork’s three-year wait for an All-Ireland final appearance.