By Dan Kearney
HANNAH O’DONOGHUE STRUCK for 1-3 as Kerry defeated Cork by 13 points at Austin Stack Park in the third round of the Lidl National Football League Division 1.
O’Donoghue was on fire for the Kingdom in a forward line where Danielle O’Leary came on in the 23rd minute and struck for a haul of 1-2.
That’s now three wins from three for the 2023 All-Ireland finalists, with Meath and Armagh also enjoying 100% records in Division 1 thus far.
A slow start to the game saw the sides level at 0-2 apiece after 10 minutes thanks to two Katie Quirke frees for Cork and a Niamh Carmody placed ball for Kerry, followed by a lovely score from O’Donoghue.
Laura O’Mahony put Cork into a 0-3 to 0-2 lead in the 14th minutes but it was to prove to be the Rebels last score of the half as Kerry, playing with a very strong wind, fired off the next five scores in-a-row.
Carmody dusted herself down to kick a free from the edge of the D following a 60-metre run at the heart of the Cork defence to level matters and as the home side put a squeeze on the Cork kick out, Emma Dineen punished the visitors with a lovely score.
Kerry turned over once again from Sarah Murphy’s kickout and Carmody popped over the free once more after Aishling O’Connell was fouled to push Kerry 0-5 to 0-3 ahead.
Cork were under all kinds of pressure as they tried to get the ball into scoring positions and in the 24th minute, Amy Harrington fed Niamh Ní Chonchúir to push Kerry three points to the good.
The final point of the half fell to O’Donoghue and Kerry took a 0-7 to 0-3 lead in at the break despite shooting six wides. But Cork wouldn’t have been too disappointed as they had the advantage of the strong wind for the second half.
Dineen and Quirke traded scores on the restart but substitute O’Leary pushed Kerry five ahead once again in the 35th minute after a flowing move involving Cait Lynch and Lorraine Scanlon.
Scanlon got in on the act with a trademark around the corner score to push Kerry 0-10 to 0-5 ahead in the 43rd minute. Cork then had a massive body blow when Shauna Cronin received a yellow card — and 10 minutes in the bin — after 47 minutes.
Kerry powered on from there for their third victory of the campaign with O’Donoghue striking for opening goal in the 55th minute and O’Leary wrapped it up at the death with a low finish to the corner.
Scorers for Kerry: H O’Donoghue 1-3, D O’Leary 1-2, N Carmody 0-3 (3f), E Dineen 0-2, L Ní Mhuircheartaigh 0-2 (1f), L Scanlon 0-1, N Ní Chonchúir 0-1.
Scorers for Cork: K Quirke 0-6 (5f), L O’Mahony 0-1.
Kerry: M.E Bolger; E Lynch, D Kearney, C O’Brien; A O’Connell, C Lynch, C McCarthy; A Harrington, M O’Connell; N Carmody ,N Ní Chonchúir, A Galvin; K Brosnan, E Dineen, H O’Donoghue.
Subs: D O’Leary for K Brosnan (23), L Scanlon for M O’Connell H/T, C Murphy for C McCarthy (43), L Ní Mhuircheartaigh for N Ní Chonchúir (45), J Gill for N Carmody (55), F O’Donoghue for D Kearney, B O’Connor for A O’Connell (both 57), R Smith for A Harrington, E O’Connor for A Galvin, J Lucey for E Dineen (all 59).
Cork: S Murphy; L Coppinger, S Leahy, D Kiniry; M Duggan, M O’Callaghan, K Redmond; A McDonagh, S Cronin; D Kiely, H Looney, L O’Mahony; S O’Leary, K Quirke, E Cleary.
Subs: R Corkery for E Cleary, E Jack for A McDonagh (both 42), L McDonagh for S O’Leary, A O’Mahony for H Looney (both 45), A Ryan for L O’Mahony (49), E Hurley for D Kiely (51).
Referee: Paul McCaughey (Westmeath).
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