Cork 0-16

Kerry 0-8

BY DAN KEARNEY

AFTER hitting ten points to fire Cork to a third league win on the bounce, Katie Quirke was hailed as ‘an exceptionally good forward’ by Rebels boss Joe Carroll.

Quirke was the start of the show as a rampant Cork outfit made short work of defending champions Kerry, winning by double scores in this fourth round Lidl Division 1 encounter at a windswept and bitterly cold Austin Stack Park in Tralee.

‘Everybody knows Katie Quirke around the country,’ Carroll said.

‘She’s an exceptionally good forward but I think we have a bunch of young players that will develop into exceptional players also.’

It was a third league win in a row for unbeaten Cork who top the table after four rounds. Instead of battling against relegation in the first season back in the top tier, the Rebels are looking upwards.

‘I suppose a lot of people, even in our own county, thought we would be relegated back down to Division 2 and hopefully we might be safe in that regard,’ Carroll said.

‘We’re on top of the table, but top or bottom it doesn’t really matter – staying in Division One was our target for this year.

‘In the first half I thought we played well but I suppose Kerry are a bit understrength at the moment with injuries. The win will do us no harm and give us more confidence than what we have.’

Playing with intent, Cork had the aid of the strong breeze in the first half and certainly made the advantage count as they dominated proceedings and took a 0-14 to 0-0 lead at half time.

Quirke slotted nine of Cork’s opening half points, with a magnificent three from play as she tormented an overworked Kerry defence whilst Aimee Corcoran, Grace Ní Mhurchú, Leah Hallahan and Sadbh McGoldrick all found the target as the Rebels totally dismantled the home side’s kickouts.

Kerry’s cause wasn’t helped by the sin-binning of Kellie McGrath in the tenth minute or the concession of three frees due to breaches, with Cork punishing two of them on the scoreboard.

Although Kerry failed to score in the opening half, they will also point to three missed goal chances including Cork custodian Sarah Murphy making two fine saves from Rachel Dwyer and Kelly Enright, but it was Cork who took a 14-point lead in at the break.

Kerry, with the wind at their backs in the second period, outscored their opponents by 0-8 to 0-2 with Danielle O’Leary and Siofra O’Shea landing notable two-pointers, but Cork were never threatened – Emma Cleary and the brilliant Quirke added further scores for the winners.

So, Cork, top of the table, will go into this Sunday’s clash with Waterford full of confidence.

Scorers 

Cork: K Quirke 0-10 (6f); G Ní Mhurchú, L Hallahan, R O’Regan, A Corcoran, S McGoldrick, E Cleary 0-1 each.

Kerry: S O’Shea 0-4; D O’Leary 0-2; N Ní Chonchúir, A Galvin 0-1 each.

Cork: S Murphy; M Duggan, D Kiniry, S Kelly; A Corcoran, S McGoldrick, R Corkery; A Healy, A O’Mahony; R Leahy, G Ní Mhurchú, E Cleary; L Hallahan, K Quirke, R O’Regan.

Subs: C Hughes for G Ní Mhurchu (48), E Hurley for R Leahy (51), A Ring for L Hallahan, A O’Sullivan for R O’Regan, K Redmond for A O’Mahony (all 54), K O’Driscoll for A Corcoran, S Callanan for R Corkery (both 58).

Kerry: C Butler; E Ní Laighin, A Doherty, A Dillane; K Brosnan, E Lynch, K McGrath; M O’Connell, C Evans; M O’Connor, N Ní Chonchúir, K Enright; S O’Shea, R Dwyer, N Quinn.

Subs: K Furey for A Doherty (14), D O’Leary for M O’Connor (24), A Galvin for E Lynch, J Lynch for K McGrath, J Lucey for N Quinn (all half-time), L McMahon for R Dwyer (39), M Mulvihill for C Evans (47), J Curtin for M O’Connell (57).

Referee: Jonathan Murphy (Carlow).