A POINTED free from 55m in the fourth minute of injury time gave Cork a 1-8 to 1-8 draw with Kilkenny at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
More importantly for the Rebels, he late, late score earned them a place in the Littlewoods Ireland Camogie League Division 1 final on April 9.
The Cork girls earned the spot on score difference.
With water on the pitch from heavy weekend rain, he battle of the Rebels and the Cats became a dogfight or more appropriately a mudfest that produced a bagful of frees.
Surviving a stringent examination was vital as the hosts led by 0-5 to 0-4 at the interval and then moved five points clear after a Katrina Mackey goal and a quick point by Ashling Thompson.
But Kilkenny moved up a gear to hit the front by the 52nd minute, when Denise Gaule drilled a penalty to the net.
And until the injury time snatch, it was Kilkenny who were moving to the final of a competition it won last year and has dominated over the past decade.
Kilkenny boss, Brian Dowling was not too downbeat, taking positives from the fortitude displayed into the teeth of the elements when falling behind.
“We’re disappointed we’re not in a League final but delighted with the performance,” Brian told Kikenny Press.
‘WE WERE POOR AGAINST CLARE’
“Coming down we weren’t sure where we were at. We were poor against Clare the last day and Cork had a massive win against Limerick so we knew we had to be on top of our game as usual when we play Cork.
“There’s never much between the teams. In fairness to the girls from Cork and Kilkenny, the effort and attitude they put in out there in those conditions was unbelievable.
“After half-time, when Cork got the goal and Ashling Thompson tapped over a point straight after, it went to five up.
“I thought the floodgates might open. I said to Tommy (Shefflin) on the sideline, ’This is the time now, we’ll see what character we have,’ and in fairness to our girls, they stood up.
“To turn a good Cork team over like that and to push ahead and be winning going into the home straight was brilliant.
“Obviously we’re disappointed Cork got the equaliser but when Chloe Sigerson is standing over a free from 50 yards, there’s only one outcome.
“It’s going to be a score. She’s a brilliant striker of the ball. But we’ve a lot of positives to take into the championship.”
