Camogie- Late Sigerson free denies Kilkenny a place in league final

Kilkenny narrowly missed out on a place in the Littlewoods National Camogie League final after they played out a dramatic draw with Cork in Pairc Ui Chaoimh on Saturday afternoon.

Kilkenny were much improved from their earlier victories over Clare and Limerick but they saw their grip on the Division 1 league crown slip away when Cork's Chloe Sigerson forced a draw with a converted free from over 50 metres deep into second half stoppage time.

The draw was enough to help the Rebels advance as a result of their better scoring difference but even still Kilkenny can be relatively pleased with their performance ahead of the Leinster and All-Ireland Championships in the coming weeks.

There were immaculate underfoot conditions for the game but driving rain and a swirling diagonal breeze made life tough for both teams.

Kilkenny made light of difficulty in the early stages when they picked off the opening score through Miriam Walsh after 14 seconds, and they doubled their lead from a free after just three minutes. It could have been so much more but for a superb double save from Cork captain and goalkeeper Amy Lee, who denied successive efforts from Niamh Deely and Walsh.

Another quick-fire brace of scores from Katie Power and Walsh around the midway point in the first half made it 0-04 to 0-01 in favour of the visiting side, but Kilkenny didn’t score from play for the remainder of the game.

An inspirational run and point from Aisling Thompson kickstarted Cork’s revival and at just 0-05 to 0-04 behind at half time with the wind to come, they looked like the team in the better position going into the second 30 minutes.

Four minutes into the second half, the Rebels were in front for the first time thanks to a Katrina Mackey goal, the Douglas player capitalizing when Aoife Norris took a split second to come off her line and cut out a long delivery into the Kilkenny square from Amy O’Connor.

With conditions worsening, the contest deteriorated into a physical battle with most of the play in the middle third of the field, with Cork struggling to make their greater share of possession count.

Kilkenny’s bench impact was also significant, never more than when Mary O’Connell was dragged to the ground inside the square in the 52nd minute, and an inch-perfect penalty from Denise Gaule found the bottom corner of the net and pushed Kilkenny 1-07 to 1-06 in front.

The sides traded points, Gaule bringing her tally to 1-03 for the afternoon with what looked like the winning score until Mackey was deemed to have been fouled by Claire Phelan with the last attack of the game, and Chloe Sigerson stepped up to send her team through to the league final with a clinical dead ball finish to make it 1-08 apiece.

Teams and Scorers

 Cork- Cliona Healy (0-4, 0-2 frees, 0-1 45), Katrina Mackey (1-0), Chloe Sigerson (0-1 free, 0-1 45) and Aishling Thompson (0-2 each).

Kilkenny- Denise Gaule (1-3, 1-0 pen, 0-3 frees), Miriam Walsh (0-2), Claire Phelan (free), Katie Power and Katie Nolan (free) (0-1 each).

Cork- Amy Lee; Meadbh Murphy, Libby Coppinger, Meabh Cahalane; Laura Hayes, Laura Treacy, Saoirse McCarthy; Katie O’Mahony, Aishling Thompson; Chloe Sigerson, Izzy O’Regan, Cliona Healy; Amy O’Connor, Sorcha McCartan, Katrina Mackey.

Subs: Ciara O’Sullivan for K O’Mahony (60), Meadhbh Ring for I O’Regan (60).

Kilkenny- Aoife Norris; Sarah Crowley, Tiffany Fitzgerald, Grace Walsh; Michelle Teehan, Kellyann Doyle, Claire Phelan; Steffi Fitzgerald, Miriam Bambrick; Niamh Deely, Julianne Malone, Aoife Doyle; Denise Gaule, Miriam Walsh, Katie Power.

Subs: Laura Murphy for K A Doyle (13), Katie Nolan for K Power (44), Mary O’Connell for S Crowley (47), Aoife Prendergast for M Bambrick (53), Laura Noris for G Walsh (58).

Referee- John McDonagh (Galway)