Camogie League round-up: Cork strike late to secure final spot while Down fight back against Offaly

Cork are headed for the Littlewoods Ireland Division One Camogie League final after Chloe Sigerson's 55-metre free in the fourth minute of stoppage time gave them the draw they needed at the end of a tense and windswept clash with Kilkenny at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

There were immaculate underfoot conditions but driving rain and a swirling diagonal breeze made life tough for both teams.

Kilkenny made light of difficulty in the early stages when they picked off the opening score through Miriam Walsh after 14 seconds, and they doubled their lead from a free after just three minutes. It could have been so much more but for a superb double save from Cork captain and goalkeeper Amy Lee, who denied successive efforts from Niamh Deely and Walsh.

Another quick-fire brace of scores from Katie Power and Walsh around the midway point in the first half made it 0-04 to 0-01 in favour of the visiting side, but Kilkenny didn’t score from play for the remainder of the game.

An inspirational run and point from Aisling Thompson kickstarted Cork’s revival and at just 0-05 to 0-04 behind at half time with the wind to come, they looked like the team in the better position going into the second 30 minutes.

Four minutes into the second half, the Rebels were in front for the first time thanks to a Katrina Mackey goal, the Douglas player capitalizing when Aoife Norris took a split second to come off her line and cut out a long delivery into the Kilkenny square from Amy O’Connor.

With conditions worsening, the contest deteriorated into a physical battle with most of the play in the middle third of the field, with Cork struggling to make their greater share of possession count.

Kilkenny’s bench impact was also significant, never more than when Mary O’Connell