Battling Limerick suffer narrow loss to Cork in Munster U23 camogie semi-final

“A FRUSTRATING result. That first minute goal put us on the back foot and we never got ahead, but still very pleased with the performance.”

After watching his side going down by a single point, 1-12 to 1-11, to hot favourites Cork in Sunday's Munster U-23 camogie semi-final, Limerick manager Dave Deady was mixing regret over what might have been with pleasure at the self-belief and ambition shown by his charges as a strong closing rally just failed to get Limerick over the line at the end of a highly entertaining contest in Cappamore.

Although half of the county senior team's starting line-up were eligible, only one of them lined out at the throw-in, as Deady took the opportunity to run the rule over his squad in competitive conditions not only for the final two rounds of the senior national league but also for the for the national under-23 championship later in the season.

While the Limerick boss did bring on some of his more established senior players after the break and they certainly made a serious impact up front, the overall performance was one of the best by any Limerick side in years against camogie's dominant force in Munster.

Cork got off to a flyer, piling forward in numbers from the throw-in and got an immediate reward when Emily O'Donoghue broke through the challenges coming in from the left and passed across the face of the square for Amy Sheppard to collect and bury in the far corner of the net.

Limerick's response was to dominate the following passages from play off a high line of possession for Ella Hession to get them off the mark and Carla Griffin's free to get them back to within a point of their visitors.

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Cork had their chances to extend their advantage as play moved up towards the other end of the field but, despite pinning the the Limerick defence back towards the goal-ine, their only reward, O'Donoughue's free, was cancelled out by a point from Hession. 

They then missed three frees and shot another chance wide before Ciara Morrison's point got the Leesiders back on the score trail.

However, that sparked the hosts' most productive passage of play and, with Hession catching high and striking on the turn before converting a '45', they were back on level terms going itno the second quarter.

When the lead didn't materialse, Cork stepped on the gas again and, in a sustained burst of pressure, moved into a lead of substance as O'Donoghue, Eimear Duignan, Sheppard and Burke's long free all found the target.

At the other end, Hession pointed from a tight angle in added time to leave her side trailing 1-6 to 0-6 at the break.

Despite the gentle breeze growing over the interval into a stiffish wind they were now facing, Limerick got the restart they wanted when Sarah O'Brien, one of the three county seniors brought in as a substitute, tore up the right wing with her first taste of action and crashed home a spectacular equalising goal.

However, Cork kept their focus and a sustained series of attacks drew three fouls for Sheppard to punish to return their lead to what it was.

Advantage turned back in the home team's direction, however, when a few more substitutions swelled out the lineup's experience, leading to Donna Kenny converting a free right after coming on and Lizzy Boylan bringing them back to within a point.

The Leesiders were also ringing in the changes and steadied the ship going into the final quarter with points from Sheppard and Aoife Byrne O'Riordan.

However, a resilient Limerick refused to lie down and, despite facing into the elements, Kenny maintained her rhythm to send over three frees that had the scores tied again with five minutes to go.

Both sides then went all out to grab the lead. Limerick had a few efforts that just failed to make it over the crossbar and Cork drew a foul which Sheppard punished with one regulation minute to go.

In a welter of excitement that spread over five added minutes, Cork held out against the all-out home team's response to record a narrow victory.

SCORERS: CORK: Amy Sheppard 1-6 (0-4 frees), Emily O'Donoghue (1 free), Eimear Duignan (1 free) 0-2 each, Ciara Morrison, Aoife Byrne O'Riordan 0-1 each. LIMERICK: Ella Hession 0-5 (1 '45'), Donna Kenny 0-4 (4 frees), Sarah O'Brien 1-0, Carla Griffin (free), Lizzy Boylan 0-1 each.

LIMERICK: Ciara Mulqueen; Kaelin Ryan, Muireann Leahy, Cliodhna Ryan; Nadine White, Ellie Woulfe, Ciara Neenan; Emily O'Halloran, Claire Power; Maeve Geary, Ciara Curtin, Amy Burke; Poppy Giltenane, Ella Hession, Carla Griffin. SUBS: Amy Foley for Kaelin Ryan (half-time), Sarah O'Brien for Ciara Neenan (half-time), Lizzy Boylan for Amy Burke (half-time), Donna Kenny for Carla Griffin (41 minutes), Eimear O'Donovan for Maeve Geary (41 minutes), Teresa Dore for Nadine White (45 minutes), Laura Southern for Poppy Giltenane (45 minutes), Mai McKenna for Ciara Curtin (54 minutes).

CORK: Anna Kearney; Maedhbh de Búrca, Amy O'Riordan, Avril Cashman; Liz O'Donovan, Laura Dunlea, Kate Cahalane; Ciara Golden, Amy McCarthy; Catherine Murphy, Rose Murphy, Eimear Duignan; Amy Sheppard, Emily O'Donoghue, Ciara Morrison. SUBS: Ciara Hurley for Anna Kearney (half-time), Keeley Goulding for Kate Cahalane (half-time), Aoife Byrne O'Riordan for Emily O'Donoghue (half-time), Maebh O'Brien for Amy McCarthy (47 minutes), Ella Wigginton Barrett for Catherine Murphy (injured, 64 minutes).

REFEREE: Mike Ryan (Tipperary).