CORK 1-10

GALWAY 2-5

GER McCARTHY REPORTS

ÁINE Terry O’Sullivan’s crucial goal helped Cork seal their first Lidl Ladies NFL Division 1 victory of the season.

Joe Carroll’s side delivered a much-improved performance to build on their opening weekend draw with Kildare, as they beat Galway in Páirc Ui Rinn on Sunday.

Beara’s Áine Terry O’Sullivan (1-2) and Katie Quirke (0-5) provided the bulk of the Cork scores in a victory chiselled from a solid defensive display that limited Galway to seven scores.

Three league points out of four is a welcome return for Joe Carroll and will help, at the very least, to secure Division 1 survival.

‘This win should give us a bit of a boost in terms of confidence,’ Carroll told The Southern Star.

‘This group, I suppose, over the last two years, haven’t won a whole pile of important games. They were relegated the year before which a lot of people fail to forget.

‘We got back up last year. The thing I keep stressing to them is that we were playing a lot of Division 2 teams. Playing Division 2 teams is totally different to playing Division 1 teams because the pace of the game is a lot quicker.

‘Look, we are getting to grips with it. We will keep working at it and, hopefully, get there in the finish.’

Katie Quirke scored 0-5 for Cork against Galway.

Scores were hard to come by during a dull opening dominated by defences until Naomh Abán’s Grace Ní Mhurchú split the posts after seven minutes.

A slow pace did little to enliven the crowd with both sides wasting chances, including Aoife Healy firing wide from the edge of the square.

Cork’s patient approach was rewarded when Katie Quirke converted a free.

A lethargic Galway needed a spark and Leanne Coen provided it with her side’s opening score. Róisín Leonard (free) made it two apiece as the Connacht team settled following a sluggish start.

Aoife Healy kicked Cork’s third score before Áine Terry O’Sullivan made it 0-4 to 0-2 via a close-range effort.

Leonard converted her second free but, once again, Cork responded with Katie Quirke and Áine Terry O’Sullivan curling over consecutive points.

Mairéad Glynn had the final say of the half however, reducing the deficit to leave Galway trailing 0-6 to 0-4 at the interval.

It was Galway who dominated at the beginning of the second half. A sustained period of pressure ended with Ellen Power lofting the ball towards Cork’s square. Andrea Trill gained possession and fired into the net.

The Rebels’ response was positive, as Katie Quirke kicked over two consecutive frees to make it 0-8 to 1-4.

Galway refused to panic and another counter-attack, initiated by Kate Slevin, ended with Leanne Coen punching home her team’s second goal.

The scores kept coming as Cork answered that green flag with one of their own – substitute Shauna Kelly set up Áine Terry O’Sullivan to billow the net.

After Katie Quirke missed a straightforward free, Abigail Ring made no mistake from play to edge the hosts 1-9 to 2-4 clear a minute later.

Next, substitute Hannah Noone kicked Galway’s only point of the second half with eight minutes to go. But Galway couldn’t find a way past the home side’s defence and a fourth Quirke free handed Cork a two-point cushion.

Pushing hard for a late two-pointer, that would have levelled the score, Galway couldn’t come up with the necessary orange flag. Cork ran out 1-10 to 2-5 winners ahead of this weekend’s trip up north to face Armagh.

‘Hopefully, we can build on this,’ Joe Carroll concluded.

‘We have Armagh away now. It is going to be a difficult trip up there because they have a lot of very good players.’

Scorers

Cork: K Quirke 0-5 (4f); Á Terry O’Sullivan 1-2; G Ní Mhurchú, A Healy, A Ring 0-1 each.

Galway: L Coen 1-1; A Trill 1-0; R Leonard 0-2 (2f); M Glynn, H Noone 0-1 each.

Cork: C Richmond (Glanmire); M Duggan (Dohenys), D Kiniry (Lisgoold), K Horgan (Knocknagree); A Corcoran (Erin’s Own), S McGoldrick (Éire Óg), R Corkery (Naomh Abán); A Healy (St Colman’s), A O’Mahony (Glanmire); R Leahy (Aghada), G Ní Mhurchú (Naomh Abán), E Cleary (Éire Óg, captain); Á Terry O’Sullivan (Beara), K Quirke (Bride Rovers), A Ring (Aghada).

Subs: S Kelly (Araglen Desmond’s Buí) for K Horgan (28, inj), C Hughes (St Val’s) for R Corkery (37), L Hallihan (Bride Rovers) for A Ring (53), K Redmond (Kinsale) for A O’Mahony (56).

Galway: L O’Halloran; S Ni Scanláin, S Ní Loingsigh, B Quinn (captain); E Power, C Trill, A Molloy; N Divilly, A Madden; M Glynn, K Slevin, K Thompson; A Trill, L Coen, R Leonard.

Subs: R Quinn for S Ni Scanláin (41), H Noone for A Molloy (43), E Noone for M Glynn (47), A O’Rourke for K Thompson (47).

Referee: K Phelan (Laois).