Tipperary and Cork progress to set up repeat final

Camogie/All-Ireland semi-finals: September 19th will see a repeat of the 2003 Foras na Gaeilge All-Ireland final between Cork and Tipperary following their respective All-Ireland semi-final victories over Galway and Wexford on Saturday in Nowlan Park.

Much was expected from Wexford this year and they almost delivered, finishing just two points adrift of Tipperary, 1-10 to 2-5.

The Premier county may have opened the scoring first with a Ciara Gaynor free inside the opening minute and were a further two points up but the opening goal of the match came from Wexford full-forward Michelle Hearne to leave it level pegging, Tipperary 0-3, Wexford 1-0 after just eight minutes of play.

Early on the excellent skills of the Wexford half backs, Áine Codd and Mary Leacy, were beginning to show. The Tipperary forwards were not having an easy time and despite further points from Emer McDonnell and Claire Grogan, Tipp found themselves behind at the break, 0-5 to Wexford's 1-3, two late frees for Kate Kelly giving Wexford the lead.

Kelly then opened the second-half scoring with another free. But the four-times All-Ireland champions, Tipperary, kept their cool and when they needed inspiration they had to look no further than brilliant full-forward Deirdre Hughes, who pounced to nab Tipperary's only goal of the match. They were ahead by a single point, 1-5 to Wexford's 1-4 with 17 minutes remaining.

Tipperary were now inspired and three further points from Claire Grogan and one from Jill Horan set them on the road to victory, but still Wexford who were hoping to visit Croke Park for the first time since 1994 were in no mood to give up easily. Another Kelly free in the 19th minute, narrowed the gap to a goal, Tipperary 1-8, Wexford 1-5. Tipperary corner forward Jill Horan replied, however, sending over her side's last two points of the day.

However, Wexford almost pulled it out of the bag when a Kate Kelly free went all the way to the net to narrow the gap to two but corner forward Evelyn Quigley then had to suffer the heartbreak of seeing her goal attempt hit the cross bar and so deny Wexford a first Croke Park visit since 1994.

Tipperary's opponents in the final will be the 2003 beaten finalists Cork, who overcame Galway 3-9 to 1-4 in the opening semi-final.

Cork got the perfect start when Jennifer O'Leary sent over the opening point and two minutes later Emer Dillon added another.

Cork were brought back to earth, though, by a Galway goal from full-forward Ann Marie Hayes.

Cork weren't unnerved, however, and midway through the first half turned on the power with two goals in a minute. Emer Watson, found the net first and Jennifer O'Leary followed with the first of her two goals. Two more points before the break, from Elaine Burke and Jennifer O'Leary, left Cork ahead, 2-6 to Galway's 1-1.

Galway showed some promise at the start of the second half with two Lourda Kavanagh points from play, but once again they were rocked by Cork's third goal from Jennifer O'Leary. Galway now found it an uphill battle, with their final score coming from Lourda Kavangh with just nine minutes gone.

TIPPERARY: J Delaney; S Kelly, Ú O'Dwyer, J Kirwan; S Nealon, C Gaynor (0-1, free), T Brophy; A McDermott, P Fogarty; N Kennedy, E Hayden, C Grogan (0-4, 0-1 from free); E McDonnell (0-1), D Hughes (1-1), J Horan (0-3). Subs: L Young for A Mc Dermott (36 mins), J Ryan for E Hayden (38 mins), P Bulfin for P Fogarty (58 mins).

WEXFORD: M Darcy; A Moran, C O'Loughlin, C O'Connor; R Breen, M Leacy, Á Codd; C Murphy, K Kelly (1-5, 0-5 from frees); O Hernon, A O'Connor, M O'Leary; Ú Leacy, M Hearne (1-0), L Holohan. Subs: D Codd for O Hernon (23 mins), E Quigley for L Holohan (29 mins).

Referee: Ú Kearney (Armagh).

CORK: A Murray; J O'Callaghan, R Holland, S Dunlea; P O'Connor, M O'Connor, R Buckley; G O'Connor, V Harris; R Moloney (0-1), E Dillon (0-1), J O'Leary (2-5); E Burke (0-1), E Watson (1-0), C Desmond. Subs: Ú O'Donoghue (0-1) for E Burke (40 mins), B Corkery for G O'Connor (42 mins), A Geary for E Watson (56 mins), G Casey for C Desmond, R Curtin for R Holland, (both 59 mins).

GALWAY: S Earner; M Carr, S Cahalan, L Flynn; L Lally, A Kelly, S Keane; A Lynskey, C Glennon; O KIlkenny (0-1), B Hanny, Á Hilary; L Kavanagh (0-3), A M Hayes (1-0), C Kelly. Subs: T Maher for A Lynskey,20mins, R Glynn for S Keane, E Kilkelly for C Kelly, both 36mins,

Referee: E Browne (Tipperary).