Camogie: McIntyre clinches crucial draw for Tipp against Cork 

The result means there is still a lot to play for ahead of the other two games on Saturday afternoon, and the final round due to take place next weekend.

SURROUNDED: Clodagh McIntyre of Tipperary is surrounded by Meabh Murphy, Ava Fitzgerald, and Libby Coppinger of Cork. Pic: INPHO/David Ribeiro

Cork 2-8 Tipperary 1-11 

Clodagh McIntyre secured a valuable draw for Tipperary in the final seconds of the Centra National Camogie League Division 1A in Páirc Uí Rinn on Saturday. In the fourth minute of added time the Lorrha Dorrha forward linked with her captain Caoimhe McCarthy before splitting the posts in a high-stake fourth round tie.

Both teams entered the day with Tipperary third in a very tight table, and Cork just below them in fourth.

What this means is that there is still a lot to play for ahead of the other two games on Saturday afternoon, and the final round due to take place next weekend.

Behind by eight points after Cork played with a wind-assisted first half, Tipperary put themselves back in the mix when towering corner-forward Caoimhe Stakelum broke through for a 35th minute goal after referee Donnacha O’Callaghan moved a free forward for dissent.

In a dominant third quarter, Eimear McGrath posted three placed balls from tricky angles to reduce the gap to two, 2-6 to 1-7.

Cork’s first score of the new half did not arrive until the 46th minute from a Sorcha McCartan free, the advantage now one clear goal.

The Rebels didn’t score from play in the second half.

The next two points went Tipperary’s way with seven minutes of regulation remaining.

A McCartan free after a foul on Orlaith Cahalane meant Tipperary trailed by two.

McIntyre had a sniff at goal but Cork averted the danger with Laura Hayes and Meabh Murphy making timely interventions.

In a dramatic finish McIntyre gave her side a deserved share of the spoils.

“We felt we were well in the game at half time, our shooting let us down,” said new Tipperary manager James Heffernan.

“We had the same amount of chances as Cork but we didn’t take them. That improved in the second half.

“We had lost two games in a row so to lose three would be a blow.

“We have Waterford at home next week, they are likely to be in the league final. But the girls responded well today so they will be in good form going home.” 

Both teams made three changes from the previous week, with Izzy O’Regan making her first Cork start since a cruciate injury ruled her out early last year.

With the wind at their backs, Cork began the scoring in the second minute when McCartan converted a free following a foul on Hayley Ryan. Tipperary’s instant reply came from Stakelum, but had the visitors been more clinical, (four wides in the first 10 minutes) they would have been in a better position.

Instead, it was Emma Murphy who raised the first green flag in the 11th minute after she latched on to a brilliant McCartan sideline ball and fired low to the far corner.

Near the quarter hour mark, Orlaith Cahalane nailed Cork’s second goal to give her side a 2-2 to 0-2 lead.

Cork kept control, adding quick-fire points from Cahalane and Ryan in an attack that held the upper hand.

Aoife Dwyer ended a 10-minute wait for a Tipperary score in the 21st minute and this was followed by a similar flag from Róisín Howard, when a goal might have been an option.

But a physically dominant Cork defence was unrelenting.

Cork came with two more scores from Cahalane and McCartan (free), as the home side pushed eight clear at the interval, 2-6 to 0-4.

The wide count, five apiece.

Cork, meanwhile, travel to Galway next weekend in a repeat of last year’s All-Ireland final and so much still up for grabs.

Scorers for Cork: O Cahalane (1-2), S McCartan (0-4 frees), E Murphy (1-0), L Hayes (free) and H Ryan (0-1 each).

Scorers for Tipperary: C Stakelum (1-2), E McGrath (0-5, 0-2 frees, 0-1 45), A Dwyer (0-2), R Howard and C McIntyre (0-1 each).

CORK: A Lee; M Murphy, L Coppinger, M Cahalane (Capt); R Harty, L Hayes, A Fitzgerald; M Condon, I O’Regan; E Murphy, S McCarthy, A McAuliffe; H Ryan, O Cahalane, S McCartan.

Subs: O Cremin for H Ryan (bs 7-12), O Cremin for H Ryan, N McNabola for E Murphy (both 44), I Sheehan for A McAuliffe (54).

TIPPERARY: L Leenane; I O’Donnell, M Eviston, E Loughman; M Burke, C McCarthy (Capt), C Guinan; K Kennedy, C Maher; A Dwyer, E McGrath, C McIntyre; C Stakelum, R Howard, N Treacy, Subs: E Carey for M Burke, E Heffernan for C Maher (both 44), J Kelly for A Dwyer (56), N Cunneen for N Treacy (61).

Referee: Donnacha O’Callaghan (Limerick).