Dublin won their fourth All-Ireland title in a row as a powerful second-half display put Cork to the sword at Croke Park yesterday.
A goal from Áine Terry O’Sullivan early on gave Cork a brilliant start, but despite leading by three points at the interval, they could only add two more as Dublin took charge.
Cork showed they meant business early on when Ciara O’Sullivan and Doireann O’Sullivan linked up well and Áine Terry O’Sullivan cut in from the right to unleash an unstoppable drive into the top corner.
Nicole Owens got Dublin up and running with a point after four minutes, but Bohan’s side were guilty of some wayward shooting in that first half, with six wides to their name by the interval.
At the opposite end Cork were efficient and Áine Terry O’Sullivan added to her early goal with a point laid on by Hannah Looney.
Orla Finn then rounded off a superb move by the Cork forwards with a score that put them 1-2 to 0-1 clear.
At the other end, Martina O’Brien denied Owens and Noelle Healy shot inches wide as two goal chances went unclaimed by Dublin.
An Aherne free and a Healy point closed the deficit to two points but Cork finished the half well with a Finn free to lead 1-3 to 0-3 at the break.
A Finn free crashed back off the post early in the second half as Dublin sought to stretch their advantage, but instead a score from Aoife Kane cut their deficit to two points.
Three minutes later Dublin reclaimed the lead when Carla Rowe converted a penalty after she was fouled by O’Brien.
With Jennifer Dunne and Lauren Magee making a big impact in the third quarter Dublin continued to dominate, and a free from Rowe pushed them two points clear.
That lead was three after a Rowe free, but Cork finally got their first point of the second half in the 44th minute through Ciara O’Sullivan.
Kate Sullivan got on the scoresheet with a good point after 50 minutes following a powerful turnover from Sinead Goldrick, and although Finn hit back from a free, Owens restored Dublin’s three-point lead.
Cork lost captain Doireann O’Sullivan to the sin bin four minutes from time and Magee followed her shortly after, and the champions made sure of victory when Healy landed her second point a minute later.
Dublin: C Trant; A Kane 0-1, N Collins, M Byrne; L Caffrey, S McGrath, S Goldrick; L Magee, J Dunne; N Owens 0-2, N McEvoy, C Rowe 1-3 (1-0 pen, 3f); S Aherne 0-1 (1f), N Healy 0-2, L Davey. Subs: K Sullivan 0-1 for Aherne (h-t), S McCaffrey for McEvoy (47), O Nolan for Kane (47), C O’Connor for Owens (58), S Aherne for Davey (60).
Cork: M O’Brien; M Duggan, R Phelan, E Meaney; E O’Shea, A Hutchings, S Kelly; M O’Callaghan, H Looney; E Kiely, A O’Sullivan 1-1, O Finn 0-3 (2f); C O’Sullivan 0-1, D O’Sullivan, S Noonan. Subs: N Cotter for E Kiely (43), S O’Leary for Finn (53), L Coppinger for Noonan (53), A Kelleher for Meaney (60), M Cahalane to Kelly (60).
