St Vals 0-13
Clonakilty 0-5
MAIREAD COURTNEY REPORTS
ST Vals deservedly took the last Cork LGFA Senior A semi-final spot thanks to an eight-point victory over Clonakilty.
By finishing second in Group 1, the Cloughduv outfit will make a short trip to Ovens to play Group 2 table-toppers Éire Óg in the semi-finals later this month. Clonakilty, meanwhile, knew their fate before throw-in – they will compete in the senior B semi-final after finishing fourth in the group.
Having won the competition and reached the Munster final last season, Clon will fancy their chances, but they face stiff opposition in the 2023 intermediate All-Ireland champions, Glanmire, on September 28th.
Clon opened the scoring straight from the throw-in, as Millie Condon tore through the St Val’s defence at pace to slot over a point after only 15 seconds.
Moira Barrett, wearing 15 but playing a roaming role, along with Millie Condon and Katie O’Driscoll, were driving Clon forward from midfield, but the swirling wind and slippery surface made scoring difficult.
Clon were let down by some sloppy passing in their inside forward line, which were repeatedly intercepted by the impressive Claire Ambrose and Miriam Cotter. Both defenses were to the fore, Clon’s Siobhan Callanan confidently scooped up every loose ball, and Niamh Kennedy kept St Val’s sharpshooter Ciara McCarthy largely out of the game in the first half.
St Vals opened their account after eight minutes through a point from Lily O’Shea, followed by a Briege Corkery score soon after. Clon’s Aisling Moloney leveled the tie after 15 minutes, 0-2 apiece, before Vals pushed three points in front with scores from Aislinn O’Mahony and Ciara McCarthy (2). Clon finished the half well, with Katie O’Driscoll pointing after winning a kickout on her own 45-metre line and going on a solo run. A Sinéad O’Donovan free left one between the teams at the break, 0-5 to 0-4.
On resumption, St Vals looked every inch a team that was chasing a positive result, knowing they needed to win by six. Clon battled hard, particularly in the full-back line, but played second fiddle to a Vals team that showed off some slick passing and inch-perfect crossfield kicking. St Vals took control at midfield, where Ciara Hughes and Lily O’Shea were on top. Six points without reply pushed Vals seven ahead, with three more for McCarthy (including two frees), O’Mahony, and the lively half-time sub Ciara Kelleher (2).
It was the 53rd minute before Clon made their only second-half contribution to the scoreboard. A rare kick-out error, in a game where both net-minders excelled, was seized upon by Sinead O’Donovan, who made no mistake slotting over a point directly in front of the posts.
Any hopes of a Clon comeback were soon quashed, with St Vals picking off the last two points of the game courtesy of Briege Corkery and McCarthy.
Clon still had one last chance to spoil the St Val’s party. With 62 minutes gone, a free inside scoring territory was kicked short but the ensuing shot on goal was confidently dealt with by Chelsea Love.
Vals maintained the required margin and safe passage to the knock-out stages of the Senior A competition, as Clon turn their focus to the Senior B.
Scorers
St Vals: C McCarthy 0-6 (3f); B Corkery, A O’Mahony, C Kelleher 0-2 each; L O’Shea 0-1.
Clonakilty: S O’Donovan 0-2 (1f); M Condon, K O’Driscoll, A Moloney 0-1 each.
St Vals: C Love; M Cotter, C Ambrose, B Cotter; A Keane, A Corkery, E O’Shea; C Hughes, L O’Shea; L McMahon, B Corkery, A O’Mahony; C McCarthy, M Corkery, A Sheppard.
Sub: C Kelleher for L McMahon (ht).
Clonakilty: M O’Brien; N Kennedy, S Callanan, E O’Sullivan; M O’Donovan, K O’Donovan, C McCarthy; K O’Driscoll, M Condon; A Moloney, S Pattwell, R Twomey; A O’Flynn-Meade, S O’Donovan, M Barrett.
Subs: L Daly for A O-Flynn-Meade (ht), Clodagh McCarthy for R Twomey (50), C McEvoy for S Pattwell (50), E Meade for C McCarthy (60).
Referee: Joe Larkin.
