All Ireland Minor ‘A’ Camogie Championship
Cork 0-14
Waterford 2-5
Waterford’s minors gave a plucky second half display in Mahon on Saturday afternoon but it wasn’t enough as the hosts stood their ground in a hectic finish.
Captain Beth Carton scored 1-5 from frees and her 64th minute goal left only two points between the sides. Cork went up the other end however and player of the match Keeva McCarthy steadied the ship with her ninth point of the hour.
Waterford kept plugging away and a foul on Kate McMahon saw wing back Maeve Lynch receive a second yellow. In the ninth added minute, McMahon’s floated in the free but the ball was cleared out the field and the final whistle sounded.
The hosts decided to double mark Carton but the De La Salle forward still managed to inspire her colleagues by driving at the red shirts. She powered beyond the entire Cork defence midway through the second half but her shot whizzed past the right hand upright.
Wind assisted Cork were all over Waterford during the first quarter. Rachel Harty’s opener was followed by two Keeva McCarthy efforts.
The Déise girls responded on 15 minutes with a Carton free and she drove over another following a foul on Madigan.
The pressure continued to build on the defence. Cork rattled off the next four points courtesy of Michaela Buckley (free), Cliona Healy, Harty and McCarthy (0-7 to 0-2).
Megan Dunford relieved the pressure when she earned a free in front of the posts that Carton easily dispatched. The home team ended the half with points from Buckley and McCarthy to make their way off the field six in front (0-9 to 0-3).
On 33 minutes, Aisling Madigan’s delivery was batted down by Siobhan Morrissey and Aisling Power whipped the loose ball to the back of the net.
Referee John Dolan penalised goalkeeper Brianna O’Regan for lying on the ball and McCarthy converted the subsequent free. A trip on Megan Dunford gave Carton the chance to close the gap to three once again (0-10 to 1-4).
McCarthy sent over another free before Carton set off on that defence splitting run only to narrowly miss the target. A serious injury to Cork corner forward Rachel Harty held up the game for six minutes.
She was carried from the field by two team mentors and two umpires. Two more McCarthy singles appeared to put Cork out of sight (0-13 to 1-4).
Waterford arrived with a late surge. Carton shook the roof of the net with a fiercely struck injury time free bit they couldn’t get any nearer than two points however as McCarthy rubberstamped Cork’s second win of the campaign.
Cork: M Hurley; E Lonergan, N O’Leary, A Hennessy; K O’Connor, K McCarthy, M Lynch; L Kelly, M Buckley; C Healy, N O’Leary, C Hughes; R Harty, K McCarthy, S O’Leary.
Scorers: K McCarthy (0-9; 0-6f, 0-1 45’), R Harty (0-2), M Buckley (0-2; 0-1f) and C Healy (0-1).
Substitutes: C Ryan for N O’Leary and S Mills for Harty.
Waterford: B O’Regan; S Cunningham, S O’Brien, C Griffin; C Healy, K McMahon, C Drohan; S Harney, M Dunford; S Bonnar, B Carton, A Madigan; S Morrissey, A Power, C Jackman.
Substitutes: N Murphy for Morrissey and SM Rowe for Jackman.
Scorers for Waterford: B Carton (1-5f) and A Power (1-0).
Referee: J Dolan (Clare)
