Meath and Cork draw in camogie final
Meath and Cork played out a 1-9 apiece draw in the All-Ireland Intermediate Camogie final at Croke Park today with the replay scheduled for Sunday 1st October.
Rachel O'Shea pointed Cork into a fifth minute lead from a free, but Aoife Minogue had Meath on terms soon after from a placed ball.
There was nothing between the sides during those opening exchanges with Caroline Sugrue and Linda Collins trading further points with Sinead Hackett and Jane Dolan (free) before the Munster women enjoyed a brief spell of superiority.
Points from Keeva McCarthy (two) and O'Shea gave Cork the lead, but battling against the elements, Meath responded with a brace of Dolan frees that reduced the deficit to the minimum.
The closing stages of the half saw Sinead Hackett's point draw the sides level before a late Cork surge produced a pointed McCarthy free for Cork and a Katelyn Hickey goal with the added time.
That gave Cork a 1-7 to 0-6 interval advantage.
Meath had an Amy Gaffney point on the board 12 seconds after the resumption and then Kristina Troy finished to the net following a surging Minogue run from midfield that tied the scores.
Cork settled quickly and carved out points from Finola Neville and O'Shea as the tempo slackened.
By the end of the third-quarter Cork were ahead by 1-9 to 1-7 as both teams tried to get the upper hand.
Jane Dolan won a free with eight minutes remaining and duly converted while at the other end Cork missed a good chance from play and also from a close-range Keeva McCarthy free.
Cork lost Katelyn Hickey to a harsh red card in the closing stages as Meath earned another day out from Dolan's pointed free.
Meath – Emily Mangan (Blackhall Gaels); Emma Coffey Na Fianna), Claire Coffey (Na Fianna), Ellen Burke (Dunboyne); Aine Keogh (Kildalkey), Aoife Maguire (Killyon), Louise Donoghue (Kiltale); Cheyenne O'Brien (Kiltale), Megan Thynne (Kilmessan); Amy Gaffney (Ratoath 0-1), Kristina Troy (Blackhall Gaels 1-0), Aoife Minogue (Dunderry 0-1 free); Caroline Quinn (Boardsmill), Jane Dolan (Blackhall Gaels 0-5 frees), Sinead Hackett (Dunboyne 0-2). Subs – Aedin Slattery (Na Fianna) for Quinn 42 mins,
Cork – Amy Lee; Leah Weste, Sarah Harrington, Niamh Ni Chaoimh; Roisin Kileen, Sarah Buckley, Lauren Callanan; Fiona Neville (0-1), Jennifer Barry; Katelynn Hickey (1-0), Keeva McCarthy (0-3 one free), Maeve McCarthy; Rachel O'Shea (0-3 one free), Linda Collins (0-1), Caroline Sugrue (0-1). Subs – Micheala Buckley for M McCarthy 45 mins, Sarah Fahy for O'Shea 59m.
Referee – Liz Dempsey (Kilkenny).