Cork 3-8
Mayo 1-10
JOE Carroll accepts a lot of things need to fall in Cork’s favour to shock Dublin in their TG4 All-Ireland senior quarter-final, but believes his Rebels can cause an upset.
Cork’s reward for beating Mayo in a must-win Group 2 game at MacHale Park in Castlebar is a last-eight date away to Dublin on Saturday, July 5th.
‘It will take a huge performance from us to beat them,’ Cork boss Carroll told The Southern Star.
‘I was very impressed with Dublin in the Leinster final against Meath – they have very good players and very good management.
‘We have to take it up another couple of notches to win, and they are at home as well.
‘Dublin are a very good running team with exceptionally good forwards, but we feel we can take it up a notch and we seem to be going in the right direction.’
Cork's Rosie Corkery in action against Saoirse Lally of Mayo.The manner of Cork’s win away to Mayo has steeled Carroll’s belief that they can cause Dublin problems at Parnell Park. Needing a victory to stay in the championship, the Rebels delivered. Even when Mayo launched a second-half comeback, Cork didn’t break.
‘We were delighted with the performance and delighted with the win,’ Carroll said, though he did highlight the concession of a ‘soft’ goal in the second half as an area Cork must improve.
‘We can’t be conceding goals like that from here on,’ he warned, as the intensity ratchets up.
It’s the concession of goals that is a worry, given Kerry hit five past Cork in their opening group game a week earlier. Four of those goals arrived in the second half, wiping out Cork’s six-point half-time advantage and turning it into a loss. That was discussed at half-time last Saturday when Cork led 2-3 to 0-6 at half time.
‘We spoke about it at half time, that the first ten minutes of the second half would be vital. We had the wind, even though it died a bit compared to the first, but we focused big-time on not conceding too many soft scores,’ Carroll explained.
Cork forward Áine Terry O'Sullivan has her shot saved by Mayo goalkeeper Julia Gawalkiewicz.Similar to the Kerry game, Cork built a lead in the first half, but this time they held on. Máire O’Callaghan ran through the Mayo defence to rattle the net inside the opening seconds of the game. A dream start. Mayo, with the wind advantage, didn’t blink, and pointed their way into a 0-5 to 1-1 lead before Hannah Looney’s second point levelled the game.
When Katie Quirke’s point attempt from 20 metres out dropped in over the Mayo goalkeeper’ head, it was the goal that Cork needed to grab control on the scoreboard. By the break, Cork led by three, and had the wind at their backs in the second half.
‘Katie’s goal near the end of the first half settled us down and gave us that bit of breathing space,’ Carroll said.
‘I felt we were forcing it a little bit in the first half. We were playing against the wind, but we forced it a bit and lost possession when we should have been a small but more patient.’
In the second half, experienced Cork attacker Áine Terry O’Sullivan stood up. In the third quarter Aoife Geraghty and Sinead Walsh (two frees) kicked scores for Mayo, but they were matched by a trio of Áine Terry points – the Allihies ace led by example to keep the Rebels in front.
Cork manager Joe Carroll.‘She got three great scores in the second half,’ Carroll said, having asked the Beara sharpshooter to come out of retirement this season after he took over as manager. Áine Terry jumped at the chance.
‘It was a big plus to get her back and a plus to get her scoring – she is a threat in the full-forward line alongside Katie Quirke.’ he said.
‘Áine has the experience that a lot of our younger players don’t have, she works really hard, she has a great attitude and is an example to all the younger players. She is a good foil for Katie too.’
The two Cork forwards combined for Quirke’s second goal in the 52nd minute that gave the Rebels a buffer to repel Mayo’s late fightback. When Annie Gough found the net, Cork’s lead was down to three, but they didn’t panic. Instead, the ball was worked up the field and Laura O’Mahony fisted over to push the advantage back out to four. It was enough to seal the win and a place in the last eight, with Dublin next.
The victory came at a cost, however, as defender Shauna Kelly will miss the rest of the championship campaign – she suffered a serious injury late in the first half when Cork were clearing their lines.
‘Shauna won’t be back for the Dublin match. She will be a huge loss, she was playing very well and is one of our most experienced players. We all want to wish her the best in her recovery,’ Joe Carroll added.
Scorers -
Cork: K Quirke 2-1 (1f), M O’Callaghan 1-0, A O’Sullivan 0-3, H Looney 0-2, L O’Mahony 0-2.
Mayo: S Walsh 0-6 (5f), A Gough 1-0, A McDonnell 0-2, A Geraghty 0-1, S El Massry 0-1.
Cork: Sarah Murphy; Shauna Kelly, Sarah Leahy, Melissa Duggan; Aimee Corcoran, Shauna Cronin, Rosie Corkery; Máire O’Callaghan, Aoife Healy; Abbie O’Mahony, Laura O’Mahony, Katie Horgan; Áine Terry O’Sullivan, Hannah Looney, Katie Quirke.
Subs: Emma Cleary for Kelly (25-inj), Abigail Ring for Corkery (45), Sadhbh McGoldrick for Horgan (50), Leah Hallihan for A O’Mahony (53).
Mayo: J Gawalkiewicz; L Wallace, N O’Malley, C Durkin; D Caldwell, E Brennan, S El Massry; H Reape, S Lally; L Hanley, S Walsh, A Geraghty; E Murray, C Keane, K Sullivan.
Subs: A McDonnell for Murray (4-inj), A Gough for Sullivan (42), C Whyte for Hanley (50), B Hession for Brennan (52).
Referee: Gus Chapman (Sligo).
