Cork have blown away visitors Tipperary to book their spot in the Quarter Final Stages of the Ladies All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, with a 27 point winning margin.

The home side blew Tipperary out of the water in the opening 15 minutes, scoring 5-4 to the visitors 0-2 in a seriously impressive period of play.

Despite an early point from Tipperary’s Emma Morrissey inside thirty seconds, the home side responded emphatically through a second minute goal from Eimear Kiely.

Kiely benefited from a bit of good fortune, as her teammate Doireann O’Sullivan’s goal attempt hit the post, bouncing back into the hands of Kiely who was able to easily slot the ball into the back of the net.

O’Sullivan’s effort wrongfooted Lauren Fitzpatrick in the Tipperary net, and she was unable to stop Kiely’s effort from close range.

Just one minute later, Cork scored again, this time through Maire O’Callaghan, who danced her way through the heart of the Tip defence to set herself up one-on-one with Fitzpatrick. O’Callaghan struck the ball emphatically from a tight angle from the left-hand side to power the ball into the top-right corner in what was a remarkable finish.

The visitors were visibly stunned by Cork’s fast start, and were caught napping again in the 6th minute as O’Sulluivan faked a free attempt to set teammate Orlaith Cahalane through on goal. Under no pressure from the Tipperary defence, who were desperately trying to process the onslaught they were being subject to, Cahalane produced a tidy finish to give Cork their third goal in the opening six minutes.

But the onslaught wasn’t over yet; in the 7th minute, an excellent passage of play from Anna Ryan saw the defender cruise through the Tip squad, she found herself in acres of space. Ryan produced a finish similar to that of teammate O’Callaghan just minutes earlier, and it was a fourth goal.

Baffled by the previous proceedings, Tipperary went into damage limitations mode and got hold of the ball more and held on to possession, opting for short kickouts and safer passes. A point in the 9th minute from Emma Morrissey highlighted what Tip were trying to do, slow the game down, score a few points, and limit Cork’s time on the ball.

This plan was undone after a clumsy loss of possession, and Cork’s opening goalscorer Eimear Kiely was through on goal again. Kiely was brought down inside the box by Fitzpatrick in the Tip net, and a penalty was awarded. Kiely’s twin sister Daire stepped up and converted the penalty calmy, as Eimear was forced to withdraw from the field of play in just the 16th minute.

Tipperary looked to slow the pace of the game down and reduce Cork’s influence on the ball. They limited the home side to just four points in the second 15 minutes of the opening half and got themselves a goal through Aisling Moloney, who benefited from a kind bounce. Her free goal attempt was saved by Meabh O’Sullivan in the Cork net, but Moloney was able to convert her rebound to reduce the deficit somewhat.

In the second half, Fitzpatrick in the Tipperary net had a busy opening two minutes, saving efforts from Doireann O’Sullivan and then Ciara O’Sullivan less than a minute later. Ciara O’Sullivan was judged to have followed through with her leg to the face of Fitzpatrick whilst taking her shot, and was shown a straight red card by the referee, much to the amazement of O’Sullivan, her coaches and the home crowd.

Just two minutes later, Cork’s second goal-scorer Anna Ryan was shown a rather harsh yellow card for a rather mundane foul on Aisling Moloney. For 10 minutes, Cork found themselves down to 13 players and were punished by a 37th minute goal from Aisling Moloney, whose shot was blasted into the back of the net from close range, skimming the cross bar on its way in.

Despite their lack of numbers, Cork continued to pile the pressure on the visitors and scored three times in the final ten minutes. Anna Ryan picked up her second goal of the game, getting on the end of a wonderful passage of play from her teammates. In the 57th minute, Dara Kinry scored Cork’s seventh goal of the afternoon, fisting the ball in from close range. In the dying seconds of the game, substitute Brid O’Sullivan got on the scoresheet, scoring an excellent goal from less than ten yards out.

Cork’s victory was all but guaranteed after a blitz of five goals in the opening 15 minutes, as they stunned their opponents from the opening whistle. Tipperary showed great spirit to get two goals back on the home side, but it was ultimately not enough as Cork showed their class to end up winning by 27 points.
Full Time in Clonakilty, Cork win 8-12 to Tipperary’s 2-03.