Cleary and Coppinger fire Cork past Rossies to help push for promotion 

MAKING HER MARK: Cork's Emma Cleary celebrates her goal against Roscommon during the Lild LGFA National league ,division 2 game at SuperValu Pairc Ui Chaoimh. Pic: Eddie O'Hare

Lidl Ladies NFL: Cork 4-17 Roscommon 2-9

Laura Cleary and Libby Coppinger braces enabled Cork to maintain their Lidl LGFA National League Division 2 promotion push at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday.

The curtain-raiser to a triple-header of LGFA, football and hurling action saw Joe Carroll’s side prove too strong for relegation threatened Roscommon.

A disjointed first half saw six goals netted, four for Cork and two for the visitors. The second period was more straightforward and saw Cork remain firmly in the Division 2 promotion hunt.

An explosive start saw Coppinger palm the ball into the net after less than 30 seconds. Roscommon had a goal ruled out immediately after but the drama didn’t let up during a frantic opening quarter.

Abigail Ring raised a white flag, Katie Quirke landed a free and Coppinger had another goal-bound effort saved by Helena Cummins.

Then, two goals in as many minutes. First, Aisling Hanly turned and fired low into Cork’s net. Next, Emma Cleary converted a penalty to make it 2-3 to 1-0 in Joe Carroll’s side’s favour.

The scores kept coming as Laura Mannion and Aimee Corcoran swapped points before an unfortunate injury to Roscommon’s Orla O’Neill halted play.

The Connacht side shook off O’Neill’s loss however, as Cork lost their rhythm. Laura Mannion (free) and Caoimhe Lennon quickly reduced the deficit.

Cork responded via Ring’s second score but disaster struck when goalkeeper Sarah Murphy misjudged Laura Mannion’s long range attempt and the ball nestled in the back of the net.

Aimee Corcoran settled her team’s nerves before a converted Aisling Hanly free made it 2-6 to 2-4.

Another terrific Helena Cummins stop kept Roscommon in it prior to Mannion leaving the bare minimum between the teams.

The next score would prove crucial and Emma Cleary grabbed it by firing into the net after an initial effort rebounded off the crossbar.

Coppinger dispossessed a defender and raced through to wallop in her second goal shortly after. The concession of those two green flags left the visitors trailing 4-6 to 2-5 at the conclusion of the first half.

The second period was nowhere near as frenetic as the first but Cork took early command thanks to Emma Cleary, Katie Quirke and Róisín Ní Chorcora points.

Lisa O’Rourke and Abigail Ring scored at either end to make it 4-10 to 2-6 with over a quarter of the game to go.

Laura O’Mahony, Ring and Quirke kept the scoreboard ticking over and Cork ran out convincing winners by the time the final whistle shrilled.

Scorers for Cork: E Cleary 2-1 (1 pen), L Coppinger 2-0, K Quirke 0-6 (4f), A Ring 0-4, A Corcoran 0-2, A O’Mahony, R Ní Chorcora, L O’Mahony, L Hallihan 0-1 each.

Scorers for Roscommon: L Mannion 1-5 (4f), A Hanly 1-1 (1f), C Lennon, L O’Rourke, M Nolan 0-1 each.

CORK: S Murphy; M Duggan, S Kelly, A Ryan; R Ní Chorcora, S Cronin, S Leahy (captain); M O’Callaghan, A O’Mahony; E Cleary, L O’Mahony, A Corcoran; A Ring, L Coppinger, K Quirke.

Substitutes: S Callanan for S Cronin (ht), A McDonagh for 18 (44), E Hurley for A Corcoran (53), O Roche for L Coppinger (53), S McGoldrick for R Ní Chorcora (56), K Horgan for S Kelly (56), L Hallihan for A Ring (59), L Cleary for E Cleary (60).

ROSCOMMON: H Cummins; R Brady, E Irwin (captain), M McKeon; O O’Neill, S Wynne, L O’Rourke; A Curran, N Watson; S McGuinness, L Mannion, C Cregg; A Hanly, E Thompson, C Lennon.

Substitutes: N Feeney for O’Neill (20, inj), S Timon for N Feeney (34), S Fitzmaurice for S McGuinness (39), R Lennon for C Lennon (39), A Malone for N Watson (41), M Nolan for A Hanly (46), M Kelly for R Brady (48), A O Meara for L O’Rourke (50), L Shanagher for R Lennon (53).

Referee: Barry Redmond (Wexford).