Waterford power past Cork to move closer to securing Munster Ladies football final spot

DEISE DELIGHT: Cork's Rachel Leahy in action against Waterford's Emma Murray. Pic: Jim Coughlan.

Waterford 3-18 Cork 3-7

Waterford powered past Cork in the TG4 Munster senior football championship at Páirc Ui Rinn on Sunday afternoon.

Tomás Mac an tSaoir’s side were full value for their win thanks to Kellyann Hogan, Katie Murray and Clare Walsh’s scoring prowess and a superb team display.

Avoid defeat against Tipperary next weekend and the Déise will qualify for a second consecutive Munster SFC final.

As for Cork, the Division 1 National League champions lost for the second time in a row and require a huge upturn in form ahead of facing Kerry in Killarney.

A game blighted by heavy showers saw Waterford break the deadlock via an early Hogan effort that was palmed over the crossbar by Cork goalkeeper Caoimhe Richmond.

The home team responded quickly as Máire O’Callaghan burst through to find the net and a Katie Quirke free, brought forward 50 metres, made it 1-1 to 0-1.

That was Waterford’s cue to up the tempo however, as a Walsh goal and two points apiece from Hogan and Áine O’Neill pushed Waterford 1-5 to 1-1 clear after 10 minutes.

Áine Terry O’Sullivan and Quirke efforts reduced the deficit prior to a Hogan point restoring her team’s three-point advantage. Quirke setup Leah Hallihan for Cork’s second goal but, once again, their opponents mounted a swift response.

Ruby Browne and Eve Power white flags made it 1-8 to 2-3 in the visitors’ favour before another turnover resulted in Murray firing into Cork’s goal.

Murray added a point to make it 2-9 to 2-3 at the break.

It was 2-12 to 2-5 when Cork captain Emma Cleary arrowed a marvellous shot into the top corner after 37 minutes.

Hogan steadied Waterford nerves with two converted frees before thundering a magnificent shot into the roof of the net.

A flurry of scores preceded Emma Murray and Hogan (free) completing the rout.

Cork’s Emma Hurley kicked the game’s final score but Waterford ran out deserving 3-18 to 3-7 winners and took a giant step towards reaching this year’s TG4 Munster SFC final.

Scorers for Waterford: K Hogan 1-8 (4f), K Murray 1-2, C Walsh 1-1, Á O’Neill 0-2, R Browne, E Power, B McMaugh, L McGregor, E Murray 0-1 each.

Scorers for Cork: K Quirke 0-3 (2f), M O’Callaghan, L Hallihan, E Cleary 1-0 each, S McGoldrick 0-2, Á T O’Sullivan, E Hurley 0-1 each.

WATERFORD: K Gardner; C Murray, L Mulcahy, R Browne; M Daly, R Casey, K McGrath; E Murray (c), E Power; Á O’Neill, K Hogan, K Murray; B McMaugh, C Walsh, L McGregor.

Subs: C Fennell for M Daly (ht), L Cusack for R Browne (57), L Ní Harta for E Power (57), A McGrath for K Murray (58), O Kennedy for L Mulcahy (59).

CORK: C Richmond; S Callanan, D Kiniry, S Kelly; A Corcoran, M Duggan, R Corkery; S McGoldrick, A O’Mahony; R Leahy, M O’Callaghan, E Cleary (c); L Hallihan, K Quirke, Á T O’Sullivan.

Subs: K Redmond for A O’Mahony (47), R O’Regan for R Leahy (47), A Ring for M O’Callaghan (47), E Hurley for Á T O’Sullivan (54), K O’Driscoll for S McGoldrick (57).

Referee: Seamus Mulvihill (Kerry).