Gavin Whelan reports
Waterford lost out to Cork by 2-19 to 3-8 in the All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship yesterday evening at Páirc Uí Rínn.
Both sides were already through to the knockout stages with top spot in the group up for grabs.
Waterford were dealt an injury blow in the warm-up as all-star Beth Carton picked up a knee injury, but the Déise did start well and had two goals after 27 minutes with captain Niamh Rockett and Vikki Falconer both netting.
Cork though began to get a foothold in the game, as the home side raised two green flags through Katrina Mackey (who ended with 1-4) and Amy O' Connor on the stroke of half-time as they led by four points at the break (2-8 to 2-4).
Vikki Falconer got her second goal of the afternoon in the 2nd-half but Cork kept the scoreboard ticking over to run out deserving eight point winners. Strong scoring performances from Fiona Keating, Orla Cronin and Mackey in the second half ensured Waterford never threatened an upset.
Deise manager Derek Lyons was happy with the character shown in their performance, and they will find out their quarter-final opponents in the draw this afternoon.
"Obviously - we wanted to win. We wanted to put our best foot forward to do that, particularly in the first half. We showed a lot of character, a lot of good quality and a lot of improvements from where we were a few weeks ago. We had a big blow losing one of our leaders before the game in Beth, but to be fair to the girls - they responded unbelievably after that."
