Limerick Ladies suffer last gasp defeat to Cork ahead of rematch in Munster senior 'B' football final

"WE RANG rang in the changes to give everyone the chance to stake their claims in the starting lineup so I was very happy with this display,” was joint-manager Seán Kiely's reaction to Limerick's last gasp 1-17 to 1-16 defeat to Cork in the Munster Ladies Senior 'B' football round robin defeat to Cork in Mallow on Saturday evening.

With both sides already qualified for Saturday week's provincial final, the respective management teams used the occasion to fine tune their sides, but it didn't detract from a most competitive and entertaining clash in which the winners needed a point off the game's final kick to edge home after their opponents had fought back from a six-point deficit at the break.

“We struggled with the kick-out in the second quarter, giving Cork the lead which won them the match but the team showed great character to draw level just before the end,” was the Treaty joint-manager's assessment of a display that showed an ability to react to the circumstances and keep the focus on the result.

Some excellent stints put in by the spine of the Limerick lineup showcased the team's strengths ahead of the All-Ireland Junior championship campaign which begins once the provincial ambitions have been decided.

Cork enjoyed the early possession but struggled to break the Limerick full-back line and shot three wides before the visitors broke from their own half to open the scoring with Iris Kenneally's shot on the run and, keeping the pressure on the kick-out, kept up the momentum for a point from skipper Róisín Ambrose, Kenneally's pointed free and Katie Heelan to catapult them into a lead of four pointswhich they held as they repelled the Rebel's attempts to strike back.

However, the game changed when hesitancy at the back allowed Áine Hallahan, who gained possession off Caoimhe Russell, steal in between goalkeeper and defence to slot to the net. The sides were then level when Russell sent over a free.

Kennelly struck twice for Limerick points inside a minute to restore the Treaty girls' advantage by the quarter mark. However, once their opponents reconfigured their challenge on the kickout, Russell's pointed free for Cork was followed by Aimee Corcoran equalising from the tightest of angles out on the right.

Another Russell pointed free followed and, despite Aoibhín Murphy drawing Limerick level again, Cork's monopoly of primary possession continued as Rachel Murphy, with two points, Russell's pointed free and points from Corcoran, Andrea O'Connell and Murphy again found the target to put the Leesiders 1-10 to 0-7 in front by half-time.

Limerick got the chance to regroup after Cork made wholesale changes over the break and, after missing a few early chances, Áine Cleary and Kate Kennedy ate into the deficit with points which could have been all but wiped out had Dearbhla Creed not spectacularly stopped Grace Mullane's penalty after Murphy had been fouled bearing down on goal.

That missed opportunity sucked the momentum out of the Limerick response and, with the pace dropping, Orla Roche struck back before the visitors found a new lease of life when Caoimhe McNamara ghosted in behind the cover to collect the pass and slide the ball to Creed's net.

Noelle O'Mahony point in reply interrupted the search for the equaliser, but Limerick kept pushing forward and, once they found the pressure points on the Rebel kickout, Murphy pointed twice before Ambrose brought the sides level.

But their efforts to move on to the lead were were interrupted by Kate Redmond and, even though Kernneally tied the scores up, Grace Murphy and Eve Murphy had Cork back in front.

In the hectic closing exchanges, Ambrose wiped a point from the deficit only to be  cancelled out by Katie Horgan's point as the clock went into added time.

Kennedy's reply was then followed by Ambrose's equalising point for Limerick. However, with the very last action of the game, Roche squeezed Cork home by the narrowest of margins.

SCORERS: CORK: Caoimhe Russell 0-4 (4 frees), Áine Hallahan 1-0 Rachel Murphy 0-3, Aimee Corcoran, Roche 0-2 each, Andrea O'Connell, Noelle O'Mahony, Kate Redmond, Eve Murphy, Katie Horgan (free), Laura Mahony 0-1 each. LIMERICK: Iris Kenneally 0-5 (2 frees), Aoibhín Murphy 1-2, Róisín Ambrose 0-4, Áine Cleary, Kate Kennedy 0-2 each, Katie Heelan 0-1.

CORK: Abbie O'Sullivan; Rachel Sheehan, Caoimhe Heffernan, Eve Buckley; Emma Murphy, Ruth Shanley, Danielle Murphy; Kate Redmond, Aimee Corcoran; Aoife McTaggart, Emma Hurley, Andrea O'Connell, Áine Hallahan, Caoimhe Russell, Rachel Murphy. SUBS: Caoimhe Moore for Kate Redmond (half-time), Aisling Moloney for Áine Hallahan (half-time), Katie Horgan for Rachel Murphy (half-time), Grace Murphy for Emma Murphy (half-time), Laura Mahoney for Emma Hurley (half-time), Orla Roche for Andrea O'Connell (half-time), Noelle O'Mahoney for Aoife McTaggart (half-time), Eve Murphy for Kate Redmond (half-time), Emma Murphy for Danielle Murphy (54 minutes), Dearbhla Creed for Rachel Sheehan (54 minutes).

LIMERICK: Ailish Kiely; Shauna Doellken, Joanne McGuire, Sara Dillon; Lauren Ryan, Leah Coughlan, Grace Mullane; Róisín Ambrose, Maedhbh McNamara; Caoimhe McNamara, Iris Kenneally, Aoibhín Murphy; Michaela Cumes, Katie Heelan, Áine Cleary. SUBS: Ellie Woulfe for Katie Heelan (half-time), Kate Kennedy for Michaela Cumes (half-time), Áine Dalton for Shauna Doellken (53 minutes), Michaela Cumes for Áine Cleary (56 minutes).

REFEREE: Jerome O'Sullivan (Kerry).