Kilkenny book spot in All-Ireland Quarter-Finals with Nowlan Park win

Kilkenny locked down their place in the quarter-finals of the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland senior championship after beating Clare in UPMC Nowlan Park.

There were perfect conditions at Kilkenny GAA HQ and the action was intense and enjoyable, but it took a while for the scoring to get going, with seven minutes on the clock before Caoimhe Carmody struck the first point for Clare.

Steffi Fitzgerald worked hard to chase down a lost cause and set up a goal for Sarah Barcoe in reply, and the contest was nicely poised when Carmody made hard yards through the middle and through tackles to set up an attack that ended with Andrea O’Keeffe floating in a tantalising ball that Róisín Begley hit to the net with an overhead pull.

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Another overhead goal, this time from Fitzgerald, pushed Kilkenny two clear approaching half-time, and that lead was doubled at the turnaround with points from Barcoe and Caoimhe Keher Murtagh.

The contest was still there for the taking for either team midway through the second half, but a run of four Kilkenny points put distance between them, and the contest was wrapped up when Claire Doheny struck a shot off the post and Katie Nolan was first to the rebound, firing the ball into the net from a tight angle.Fitzgerald brought her tally to 2-5 with a further goal late on to make it four wins out of four for the in-form Cats.

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