All-Ireland glory for Kilkenny as they beat Cork in memorable UPMC Nowlan Park decider

Kilkenny now have double the number of Electric Ireland All-Ireland minor A camogie titles of Cork, possessing greater goal power than their nearest rivals on the roll of honour to secure ultimate victory for the eight time, at UPMC Nowlan Park.

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The two teams met in the group stages of this competition, when both were already qualified but a direct route to the semi-finals was up for grabs. On that occasion, Cork prevailed but with them playing for all the marbles this time around, a lightning start and second-half goals from Ona Kennedy and Emily Phelan ensured that the Cats would win a first championship since 2021 and only a second in ten years.

In truth, there wasn’t a whole lot between the teams, just as was the case on their initial joust, but the Noresiders were ruthless when provided with major opportunities this time around and were deserved victors as a result.

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It was a pillar-to-post triumph for David Maher’s outfit, who started well with points from Lucy Boyd and Ciara O’Shea before Niamh Davis took a pass from Molly Conroy before raising the game’s first green flag in the fifth minute. Cork needed to settle and Mossie O’Sullivan would have been delighted with the manner of their riposte, as they registered three points on the trot, with a brace of points from Clara Murphy, either side of a score by Emily Phelan.

Anna Kearney provided a further boost to the Rebel cause when denying Conroy what looked a certain goal but their momentum appeared to be halted by the lengthy treatment required for Catherine Murphy, and the loss of the midfielder with what looked like a shoulder injury was a bow to the Leesiders’ cause. That said, they were well in touch at half-time, as  Meabh O’Brien and Murphy raised white flags to answer points by Ona Kennedy, Phelan and Aisling O’Sullivan, making it 1-5 to 0-5.

Kilkenny had the best possible start to the second half however, when Kennedy’s free flew all the way to the Cork net and then split the posts.

Suddenly there were seven points between the teams and Kilkenny looked bound for home. When Ray Kelly signalled a penalty, after Tara Goulding was fouled, Cork had a chance to instil some serious doubt in the opposition but Rachel Murphy, who has been excellent throughout the campaign, looked on in horror as her thunderbolt rebounded off the crossbar and was cleared.

Murphy did point a free but Kilkenny removed all doubt when Phelan capitalised on some sloppy defending for their third goal with five minutes of regulation time remaining.

SCORERS FOR KILKENNY: O Kennedy (1-1fs), E Phelan 1-2 each; N Davis 1-0; L, Boyd, C O’Shea, A O’Sullivan, S Shefflin 0-1 each.

SCORERS FOR CORK: Clara Murphy 0-4fs; S Cronin 0-2 (1f, 1 45); A Mulkerrins, M O’Brien 0-1 each.

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