Shock victory over Cork puts Tipperary in good fettle ahead of Kerry's visit
'We need to get a big crowd in Clonmel on Sunday and see if we can beat Kerry'
Cork 0-9 Tipperary 0-11
Manager David Power attributed Tipperary’s seismic win over Cork in the TG4 Munster Senior Ladies Football Championship first round clash at Pairc Uí Rinn to "hard work".
“We have seen the work in training, and against Cork the players were superb. Now we need to get a big crowd in Clonmel on Sunday and see if we can beat Kerry. It is an opportunity to get to a Munster final and that would be huge for this group. We have nothing to fear as this win is a massive stepping stone,” said the Kilsheelan/Kilcash clubman.
Sunday's match against Kerry in Clonmel starts at 2pm.
However, Power may have understated the performance of his side. The workrate was evident from the first minute to the 65th – but there was so much more to admire in the team’s best performance by far this year.
The players oozed confidence, in no way overawed by the credentials of a home side who were recently crowned Division One league champions. A Blue and Gold tidal wave swept aside the Cork challenge with a display of steel, ferocious tackling, precise and slick passing and superb scores.
The Tipperary defence was immense, but so too was the overall display. Tipp smothered the highly-rated Division One side, never allowing them the space to rediscover the form that saw them claim the league title.
Tipperary had heroes from numbers one to fifteen, as well as the five subs who came on to replace those who had run themselves into the ground.
Ardfinnan sisters Sarah and Clara English were immense, kicking five points between them. The Martin sisters from Sliabh na mBan were equally influential, Niamh outstanding at midfield with the equally impressive Laura Morrissey, and Nora fisting over the insurance Tipperary point four minutes into added time.
As well as making two fine saves, goalkeeper Lauren Fitzpatrick doubled up as an additional outfield defender, always ready to provide an outlet for a colleague under pressure. Emma Cronin had another fine game in the left corner, and along with Tara Hoare in the other corner was never slow to make up the numbers in attack.
Emma Morrissey is often the go-to forward in the Tipperary attack but her selfless running helped spread the scoring threat, with Anna Carey hitting two great points and Heather Spillane another. Team captain Anna-Rose Kennedy was introduced ten minutes into the second half and her typical runs through the centre tore at the heart of the Cork defence.
Cork relied on Katie Quirke for six of their nine points, five of those from frees, and Rachel O’Regan was their only other starting forward to score. Rosie Corkery, Aine O’Sullivan and Abbie O’Mahoney were the main playmakers in trying to break down the Tipp defence but they had little impact on a superb backline.
“The players have worked so hard for the past three weeks. We could see the improvement, the league was a little hit and miss, but this was a real team performance. It was not dependent on any one girl, it was just amazing,” said Power.
He was vocal from the sideline throughout the game, urging his players to pin the Cork defence deep in their own half. “We didn’t want to let Cork get beyond their own 45 and break from defence. Cork got very few shots off from their own kickouts. During the league we were frustrated, we might score a point and then the opposition would go down and get a shot off quickly. Against Cork they worked like dogs and were superb”.
He added that he and his management team have been in the job for about five months and it was going to take time to get their style of play implemented, but with hard work and training, the results are coming.
“We beat Donegal in what I would describe as a one-point hammering and they won Division Two, so we are right up there. I have been talking to the girls about belief and we have nothing to fear”.
He went on - “Our defence didn’t give them a sniff. We have worked so hard with all our backroom team, including Con (Brennan), Elaine (Harte), Una (O’Brien), and our nutritionist and strength and conditioning”. He highlighted strength and conditioning. “The workrate was just incredible and there were girls crawling off the field at the end”.
The trend was set early. After Aimee Corcoran had given the home side the lead in the first minute, Tipperary hit back with the next three scores in seven minutes – but not before Lauren Fitzpatrick had made a brilliant save from a Rachel Leahy shot that had goal written all over it. Sarah English cut through the centre for the equaliser - and the first of her three points - before Anna Carey put Tipp into a lead that they would never lose, the Clonmel Commercials player put through following a great run up the wing from full back Maria Curley.
Tipp had a let-off when Aine O’Sullivan hit the post when Cork should have had a goal, and in her next attempt she dropped a ball short into the hands of Fitzpatrick. At the other end, great play from Lauren Cunningham and Emma Morrissey created the chance for Heather Spillane to extend the Tipp lead to two points.
Rachel O’Regan brought it back to a one-point game, but confidence was now oozing through the Tipp display – the forwards hassled and harried the Cork defenders deep in the Cork half, delaying the supply of ball into the attack – while at the other end Tipp were ruthless in taking their own chances, Clara English finishing a quick break to make it 0-4 to 0-2 midway through the half.
Tight marking from the Tipp defence was forcing Cork into low percentage shots that were off-target, but a fine Quirke point saw the margin down to a single score again. But a feature of the visitors’ performance was their response to Cork scores, and they hit the next two for a 0-6 to 0-4 lead – one of their best moves of the games saw Emma Morrissey provide the assist for a Sarah English point, and Morrissey followed up with a pointed free.
Cork hit another three wides as the Tipp defence never let them settle on the ball, before a Katie Quirke free made it 0-6 to 0-4 at the break. It became a one-point game two minutes into the second half when Aine O’Sullivan pointed.
However, Tipp once more doused any chance of a Cork revival when Lauren Cunningham was fouled and Morrissey pointed the free. Quirke hit back with a Cork free before Tipperary hit two in a row to open up a three-points lead by the 40th minute – Anna Carey hit her second point of the game with a monster kick, before a brilliant intercept from Emma Cronin broke up a Cork attack and set Clara English clear to make it 0-9 to 0-6.
That was still the margin after Quirke pointed another Cork free and Tipp responded immediately – Anna-Rose Kennedy skinned Maire O’Callaghan with a break through the centre and when she was pulled back, Morrissey took a short free to Sarah English, who pointed from distance.
The home support was getting anxious as a shock defeat was looking more and more likely, but they got something to cheer about when pressure won two frees in a row for Quirke to point for a 0-10 to 0-9 Tipp lead entering added time.
With three minutes of added time flagged, but up to five minutes played, it was now backs-to-the-wall time for Tipperary as Cork pressed for the equaliser. But in a move typical of their overall display, Tipp broke quickly from defence and Sarah English provided the final pass for Nora Martin to fist over to ensure a famous victory.
Scorers: Cork: Katie Quirke 0-6 (5 frees), Aimee Corcoran, Rachel O’Regan, Aine O’Sullivan 0-1 each.
Tipperary: Sarah English 0-3, Clara English, Anna Carey, Emma Morrissey (2 frees) 0-2 each, Nora Martin, Heather Spillane 0-1 each.
Cork: Caoimhe Richmond;Melissa Duggan, Dara Kiniry, Shauna Kelly; Aimee Corcoran, Sadbh McGoldrick, Rosie Corkery; Ciara Hughes, Abbie O’Mahony; Rachel Leahy, Grace Murphy, Emma Cleary; Rachel O’Regan, Katie Quirke; Aine O’Sullivan. Subs: Maire O’Callaghan for Murphy (43), Leah Hallihan for Hughes (48), Abigail Ring for O’Regan (50).
Tipperary: Lauren Fitzpatrick (Ballymacarbry); Tara Hoare (Templemore), Maria Curley (Templemore), Emma Cronin (Moyle Rovers); Kate Cashman (Templemore), Nora Martin (Sliabh na mBan), Sarah English (Ardfinnan); Laura Morrissey (Brian Borus), Niamh Martin (Sliabh na mBan); Clara English (Ardfinnan), Lauren Cunningham (Holycross/Ballycahill), Heather Spillane (Fethard); Kirsty Crotty Ryan (Moyle Rovers), Anna Carey (Clonmel Commercials), Emma Morrissey (Aherlow).
Subs: Anna-Rose Kennedy (Aherlow) for Carey (40), Angela McGuigan (St. Sylvesters, Dublin) for Crotty Ryan (43), Ava Ryan (Moyne/Templetuohy) for Cashman (46), Emma Buckley (Cahir) for Spillane (53), Lucy Spillane (Fethard) for Emma Morrissey (60+3).
Referee: Seamus Mulvihill (Kerry).