{"id":486297,"date":"2026-06-06T15:17:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T15:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/486297\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T15:17:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T15:17:09","slug":"excellent-cork-minor-footballers-cruise-past-meath-to-reach-all-ireland-semi-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/486297\/","title":{"rendered":"Excellent Cork minor footballers cruise past Meath to reach All-Ireland semi-finals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cork: 3-19 (3-4-11)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meath: 1-12 (1-2-8)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Outstanding Cork are through to the Electric Ireland All-Ireland MFC semi-final after brushing aside Meath at FBD Semple Stadium on Saturday afternoon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Rebels prevailed by 13 points in this quarter-final contest, securing a last-four place for the first time since 2021.<\/p>\n

The recently crowned Munster champions dominated from start to finish in a performance that will greatly please Keith Ricken and his management team.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Assisted by a stiff wind in the opening half, Cork settled quickly and led by ten at the interval, with Conor Downing, Darragh O\u2019Sullivan and Kieran O\u2019Shea particularly effective in supplying scores for a forward unit that looked sharp throughout.<\/p>\n

Cork goalkeeper Rory Twohig was outstanding. Alongside his primary duties, he contributed 0-9, including three orange flags from frees.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Roscommon or Derry await in the semi-final in two weeks.<\/p>\n

\"Cork'sCork’s Eoghan Ahern in action against Meath’s Tom\u00e1s Clarke. Picture: Diarmuid Brennan\/Sportsfocus<\/p>\n

Meath opened the scoring through Cormac Walsh, but Cork responded immediately. Tom Whooley\u2019s goal-bound effort was saved by Cormac Fitzimmons, resulting in a 45 that Twohig converted with ease. Ben Hegarty and Joe Miskella added points as Cork took control, though four early wides prevented an even bigger cushion.<\/p>\n

A Whooley point and an orange flag from a Twohig free reflected Cork\u2019s dominance. Another two-point free from the goalkeeper pushed them 0-8 to 0-2 ahead after 15 minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The sides traded white flags before Miskella struck a two-pointer and Twohig added a 45, stretching the lead to 0-12 to 0-3 approaching the break. Whooley tacked on another score as Cork went in 0-13 to 0-3 ahead at half-time.<\/p>\n

Wind or no wind, Cork\u2019s momentum didn\u2019t shift. They made the perfect start to the second half with a goal after just 20 seconds \u2014 Jacob Barry picking out an unmarked Eoghan Ahern, who finished superbly. Twohig added a free before Harry McGuirk hit a two-pointer for Meath, but a Royal revival never looked likely.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Shea then rattled the net with a brilliant finish after Hegarty\u2019s assist, pushing Cork 2-14 to 0-5 ahead after 38 minutes. Walsh replied for Meath before O\u2019Sullivan received a black card with 21 minutes left, leaving Cork temporarily down to 14.<\/p>\n

\"Cork'sCork’s Donal Herlihy in action against Meath’s Niall Smyth. Picture: Diarmuid Brennan\/Sportsfocus<\/p>\n

Milo Stafford converted an orange flag as Meath trailed 2-14 to 0-8, and McGuirk\u2019s powerful run yielded a goal to reduce the margin to nine. Walsh added another point, but a superb two-point free from Twohig steadied Cork, who led 2-16 to 1-9 entering the final quarter.<\/p>\n

Cork moved 2-18 to 1-10 ahead before Miskella struck their third goal, finishing after Downing\u2019s initial effort was saved. Meath claimed two of the last three points, with substitute Alex O\u2019Herlihy on target for Cork.<\/p>\n

A solid day\u2019s work for the Rebels as they march on.<\/p>\n

\"CorkCork players celebrate following their victory over Meath. Picture: Diarmuid Brennan\/Sportsfocus<\/p>\n

Scorers for Cork: R Twohig 0-9 (3 2pt f, 0-2 45, 0-1 f), J Miskella 1-3 (1 2pt), T Whooley 0-4, K O\u2019Shea, E Ahern 1-0 each, B Hegarty, A O\u2019Herlihy, C Murphy 0-1 each.<\/p>\n

Meath: H McGuirk 1-4 (1 2pt), C Walsh 0-3, M Stafford 0-2 (1 2pt f), N Smyth, C McKenna, C Brennan 0-1 each.<\/p>\n

CORK: R Twohig (Kilmeen); R McCormack (Midleton), A O\u2019Sullivan (Glanmire), C Garvey (St Finbarr\u2019s); D O\u2019Sullivan (Erin\u2019s Own), C Downing (Adrigole), E Lynch (Ballincollig); K O\u2019Shea (Urhan), C Murphy (Barryroe); E Ahern (Carrigaline), B Hegarty (Ballinora), J Miskella (Ballincollig, capt); T Whooley (Clonakilty), J Barry (Aghinagh), D Herlihy (Shamrocks).<\/p>\n

Subs: A O\u2019Herlihy (St Finbarr\u2019s) for D Herlihy (45), K O\u2019Donovan (O\u2019Donovan Rossa) for D O\u2019Sullivan (49), P Kelly (Naomh Ab\u00e1n) for C Murphy (54), M Walsh (Bride Rovers) for B Hegarty, D O\u2019Mahony (Newcestown) for J Barry (both 58).<\/p>\n

MEATH: C Fitzsimmons; B Browne, T Clarke, N Rogan; L O\u2019Donoghue, H McGuirk (capt), N Smyth; J Killoran, T Proudfoot; C McKenna, C Brennan, A Keane; C Walsh, M Stafford, D Loughran.<\/p>\n

Subs: H Keating for J Killoran (h-t), L Kavanagh for T Proudfoot (36), T Dillon for D Loughran (40), H Moffat for C Walsh (49), O Farrelly for L O\u2019Donoghue (55).<\/p>\n

Referee: Eamon O\u2019Connor (Offaly).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cork: 3-19 (3-4-11)\u00a0 Meath: 1-12 (1-2-8)\u00a0 Outstanding Cork are through to the Electric Ireland All-Ireland MFC semi-final after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":486298,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1964,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-486297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-cork-gaa","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=486297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/486298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}