By Kevin Egan
Cork will have two teams in action on All-Ireland final day in Croke Park in a fortnight while Kilkenny will have the opportunity to bring home intermediate glory on a disappointing year for them at senior level, after the two counties came through thrilling Glen Dimplex Intermediate Championship semi-finals against Offaly and Kerry respectively this evening at FBD Semple Stadium.
Kilkenny’s clash with Kerry was the first game in the double bill, and the Kingdom will have the world of regret after they failed to close out an excellent position at the end of normal time before eventually succumbing to a 2-14 to 2-12 defeat at the end of a breathless 80 minutes of action.
The hotly-fancied Leinster county got on plenty of ball early on but a couple of strong clearances from full back Sara Murphy set a tone of defiance for Kerry, and an early point for Patrice Diggin and pickpocket goal from Amy O’Sullivan got the underdogs out to a dream start.
The scores came thick and fast early in the game but Kilkenny began to assert themselves with points from Caroline Kennedy, Rachel Dowling (two) and Danielle Morrissey.
Kerry were struggling to make inroads at the top of the pitch and when Claire Doheny did all the spadework before setting up Rose Kelly for a goal, Kilkenny had all the momentum, on the road to establishing a 1-6 to 1-3 interval lead.
Dowlin extended that gap after the break but overall the interval seemed to serve Kerry well, and they soon figured out how best to attack the game, leaning on a high workrate, a strong running game and accurate freetaking from Jackie Horgan.
Niamh Leen and Sara Murphy were in sublime form along the spine of the Kerry defence and now they had the Kilkenny attack in a stranglehold, taking what looked like a decisive lead when O’Sullivan made it 1-10 to 1-9 with a couple of minutes remaining.
Jackie Horgan had a chance to force Kilkenny to chase a goal but she pushed her effort wide, and that was to prove costly as Morrissey earned and converted a stoppage time free.
Horgan stepped up again with an excellent touch, turn and finish at the start of extra time, but Kerry couldn’t quite build on that lead and only scored two points in the next 20 minutes. Shana Treacy began to dominate the battle for possession at centre back for Kilkenny, Danielle Morrissey continued to fire over points en route to a tally of 0-9 (0-4f) and Caroline Kennedy put her name on the Cats’ decisive, second goal.
Offaly’s Fianait Dooley and Olivia McAllen of Cork (Photos: ©INPHO/Laszlo Geczo)
A 2-13 to 0-13 win for Cork in the second semi-final against Offaly would suggest a comfortable win for the Rebels but it was anything but, as Cliona Dooley’s stoppage time goal was required to kill off stubborn resistance from Offaly, who were hoping to bounce straight back up to senior level after last year’s relegation.
Clodagh Leahy opened the scoring for the Faithful County with a free, but Cork responded brilliantly to take control of the game, firing four points in a row, culminating in a majestic solo effort from Lauren Homan.
Leahy spearheaded Offaly’s revival, firing six of the midlanders’ eight first half points, but wides also haunted her side and a goal from Homan, bundled over the line after a strong run from her position of centre forward opened up the defence, made it 1-7 to 0-8 at half-time.
Olivia McAllen briefly extended Cork’s lead to nine points shortly after half-time but they couldn’t shake off their opponents, and when Gráinne Kennedy sent over a majestic score from the left wing to make it 1-11 to 0-13 after 57 minutes, another bout of extra time looked quite likely.
Instead Cliona Dooley split the posts on the next attack, Offaly struggled to get the ball into the hands of their best attackers and a point from Laura Doyle and Dooley’s close-range goal, punishing a turnover after Offaly were caught chasing an equaliser, rounded off the scoring.
