Cork 1-13

Waterford 0-10

BY DARAGH Ó CONCHÚIR

ASHLING Thompson was hailed as ‘exceptional’ by Cork boss Ger Manley, as the Rebels booked their place in the semi-finals of Glen Dimplex All-Ireland senior championship.

In her first game back since suffering a serious elbow injury in early March, Thompson starred as Cork maintained their 100 percent record in the championship.

Perhaps the biggest cheer in Cork’s six-point win against Waterford at Páirc Uí Rinn on Sunday was in the eighth minute of stoppage time when the five-time All-Star powered through from midfield to take a pass and stroked the sliotar over the bar from 40 metres out, emphatically confirming her fitness and her value to this Cork side. She’s back in business.

Finishing top of Group 1 after wins against Galway, Tipperary and Waterford, Cork have bypassed the quarter-finals and moved directly to the last four.

‘We wanted to qualify for the semi-finals,’ Manley explained.

‘It was a very tough game between two evenly matched teams. The goal was the difference early on. You need a bit of luck. Our aim was to win the match and we won it.

‘There’s a lot of experienced players there. Libby Coppinger was very good. I thought Thompson was exceptional. That’s her first game back since dislocating her elbow and breaking it. I thought Laura Hayes worked very hard in the centre.

‘Waterford are an exceptional team and they’ll be there or thereabouts. The aim was to get to the semi-final in Thurles and we’re there now.’

For Cork, the upturn in form continues, as more players return to action, like Thompson and captain Méabh Cahalane. There is a more familiar look to the Cork team now after a challenging start to the season.

Regardless of how often we have seen it, people never fail to lose the run of themselves in making kneejerk assessments around results in the opening portion of a campaign.

And so it was when a Cork team, shorn of most of its first teamers from last year, got off to a poor start in the national league and then failed to get to the Munster final.

But due to retirements, injuries and unavailability for a plethora of other reasons, Manley and his brains trust had no option but to give a host of new players their heads.

It was a new experience, a massive step up in class, pass and physicality, and that showed.

But the newcomers were keen students and have taken the lessons on board. Meanwhile, the core of experienced players that guided them have been rejoined by more of their long-standing colleagues.

They were made to work by Waterford and a fortuitous goal from goalkeeper Amy Lee in the first half set the platform for the 1-13 to 0-10 triumph. Other than that, how well Thompson was moving on her return from a serious elbow injury was notable, while skipper Cahalane was also back on the scene.

Player of the match Sorcha McCartan was understandably delighted though she did admit that there was doubt in the dressing-room prior to the opening round win over Galway.

Cork defender Libby Coppinger signs autographs at the end of the game. (Photo: Stephen Heaney/INPHO)

‘We were struggling in ways but we had to give time to girls to bed themselves in,’ said McCartan.

‘It wasn’t going to happen overnight but thankfully, we’re starting to rack up performances. It’s obviously a great feeling when you’re seeing the work pay off.

‘We’ll keep the heads down for the next four weeks and look forward to whoever comes next.

‘If you’d have told me five weeks ago that (we’d have three from three) I don’t know if I’d have believed you or anyone in the changing room would have believed you, the way the year was going.

‘We didn’t change much in training. We had a pop off Galway, went out and took off the shackles and said, “If we can try our best and perform, you’d never know where it might take us,” and I think we gathered a lot of confidence from that when we performed and won and we knew we had players to come back in.

‘We had Ashling Thompson today and Méabh Cahalane back in the fray as well.

‘Nothing is won yet but we’re just happy to get a few wins on the board as it’s been a tough year. It’s been testing at times. We’ve questioned ourselves, questioned management, questioned everything but we stuck together and now we’re reaping the rewards. Going straight to the semi-finals is what everybody wanted to do so we’re delighted.’

Cork’s defence has been top class in this championship, and they will go into their semi-final on July 25th on the back of conceding a mere 1-36 in three games against elite opposition, at an average of 13 points per game.

It was Cork who had the breeze behind them in the opening half and while Waterford would have been the happier team after five minutes when Mairéad O’Brien levelled the game at 0-1 each, the visitors backed off the subsequent puckout and paid a heavy price.

Amy Lee went short and took the return pass before putting full force behind a 100-metre clearance, and the sliotar dropped on the hard ground and bounced over the head of her counterpart Brianna O’Regan and into the net.

Waterford continued to battle with intensity and commitment and a 1-5 to 0-5 half-time scoreline suggested the game was in the balance.

Beth Carton got the first point of the second half for the Déise but four points in six minutes from Cork sucked the life out of the underdogs.

Amy O’Connor hit 0-7 in all, including three frees in that run, and a tough afternoon for Waterford got even worse deep into stoppage time when half-time substitute, Niamh Rockett attempted a shoulder challenge on Laura Hayes but caught the Cork defender in the head, drawing a straight red card from referee Donnacha O’Callaghan.

And 2025 finalists Galway and Cork secured automatic passage through to the last four, Tipperary, Waterford, Kilkenny and Clare are the four teams that will play in the quarter-finals in Croke Park this weekend.