Ladies take top billing
Well that was interesting last weekend, 4 wins from 4, 3 Cork teams in league finals and were it not for a 1 point loss in Newry, as results elsewhere transpired, the footballers would be heading to Croke Park this weekend!
They had an excellent win in Cavan - a timely boost ahead of the championship opener on Saturday week, where hopefully a few more of the injured players, particularly defenders will be back in the mix.
John Cleary though will be very happy how the newcomers have bedded in and last week in a tough game both Sean Brady and Neil Lordan were excellent while Sean McDonnell knocked over 4 points.
Small margins has been a feature in Division 2; Westmeath lost 4 games by 1 point and were relegated and had Cork won in Newry, they would have been promoted.
The manager made that point and also said the result ‘could come back to haunt us’. He was right because promotion to Division 1 against top quality opposition would have brought the development of the team on considerably.
What better way to improve then to be playing against teams of Kerry’s, Dublin’s and Armagh’s quality.
Sam Maguire Cup participation in 5th place looks secure, but again Cavan’s last two pointer in the 69th minute put them into 4th and Cork down to 5th - small margins!
It was a different story for the hurlers, they were brilliant in their demolition of an admittedly, poor Galway outfit.
It sets up an intriguing league final back in the ‘Park on Sunday week, that is already a sell out as Pat Ryan’s men bid to end a 27 year wait for a league title.
The attendance of 20,000 last Saturday night brought the accumulative attendance for the 3 home games to 65,000 an indication of the support for this group of players and the value of playing in the top tier of hurling.
The one downside was the injury to Brian Hayes which thankfully is not as bad as initially feared which is great news for the team and more importantly for Brian himself.
Very Ireland Senior Camogie League
Cork v Galway on Saturday in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh at 2pm
“Always good to win here on a very tough day, strong win, bitterly cold and on a tight pitch so delighted with the performance,” said manager Ger Manley after their 4th win and with it a place in the league final.
Tipperary did not score from play - all 0-7 came from placed balls by Grace O’Brien another reason for Ger to be happy. “The defence worked hard to put the shackles on their key players and the lead at half-time was good enough, dipped a bit in the 2nd half and Amy (Lee) made a great save.”
As for the next game, “well we have the final now to look forward to, see how the girls are after the last few weeks, look at the injuries and might just freshen up the team for the Saturday, but the thing is this group don’t like losing and I’m sure that will be the attitude against Galway.”
Cork never looked like losing to Tipperary and that defeat has dented their chances of retaining their title, they must win this week and hope Cork lose; any other result and it’s a Cork v Galway final.
As Ger mentioned, Cork were solid all over, Meabh Murphy, Pamela Mackey, Meabh Cahalane and Laura Tracey were outstanding in defence.
Aoife Healy, Ashling Thompson, Orlaith Cahalane, Clodagh Finn and Laura Hayes were excellent as usual and then off the bench Emma Murphy and Amy O’Connor made important contributions.
Galway having lost to Tipperary bounced back at the weekend by beating Dublin and now they control their own destiny in the league.
The equation is simple; win on Saturday and they are in the final and over the last few years they have got the better of Cork and with Niamh Mallon, Carrie Dolan, Aine Keane and Sarah Healy all impressed in that win.
How this game pans out may very well depend on Cork’s approach; will they give fringe players a full sixty minutes or will they go the distance and remain unbeaten which might be the better option as it sends out a clear signal that they are still the team to beat?
Lidl Ladies Football Division 2
Cork v Donegal on Sunday in Ballyshannon at 12pm
“Objective achieved back in Division 1 at the first attempt, delighted that we have it done with a game to spare and now we are heading to Croke Park for the final.”
The words of manager Joe Carroll speaking after the win over Clare that sealed their promotion before a healthy crowd in Ballyvourney last Sunday.
It was a tough enough game and the conditions were a factor. “It was to be fair and Clare played well as they are trying to avoid relegation and it was only Laura’s (O’Mahoney) late goal that saw them off.”
Laura herself was also thrilled with the win: “Very important to get back to the top division as it will help in the development of the team and so will playing in Croke Park”.
Galway will provide the opposition on Saturday 12 and Laura felt they were a bit unlucky to lose to them in the group phase. “I felt so just a few small things went against us; it was also only our second game in the league, but look it’s behind us now and we move on and hope we can reverse that result in the final.”
While promotion was the objective, it would be nice to win and go up as champions, as Joe explained. “Well it’s always nice to win a trophy and we will be doing our best to do just that, winning is important as well and we hope we can end the league on a positive note.”
Donegal lie 3rd in the table and will like Cork want to end the campaign on a high with an eye to the Ulster Championship and where you finish in your provincial series determines your seeding for the All-Ireland.
Cork though have built up a nice squad with Hannah Looney, Emma Cleary, Katie Quirke, Erika O’Shea, Amy McDonagh and Mellissa Duggan are very experienced players and that might just give them the edge.
It’s a long trip but made shorter by the knowledge that they are heading to HQ in two weeks time regardless of the result.
Electric Ireland Munster Minor Hurling
Cork v Limerick on Friday at the Gaelic Grounds at 7pm
An opening round tie that is sure to be a tough one and with their under 20s having beaten Tipperary on Tuesday in Thurles, the home side will be keen to end the week on a high.
They have some good players in Sean Collins, Conor Fitzpatrick, Cathal Kiely, John O’Riordan and Ryan Foley.
Cork will be able to call on Michael Tadgh Brosnan, Craig O’Sullivan, Cormac Deane, Colm Garde, Eoin O’Shea, Callum Coffey, Tom Walsh and team captain Bobby Carroll among others as they bid to get their campaign off to a winning start.
Opening games can be difficult especially away from home but hopefully they can get the win.
Dalata Hotel Group Munster Under 20 Football Championship
Cork v Clare in Quilty next Tuesday at 7pm
Cork head into this game against a side that recovered well from losing their first two games in phase 1 to Waterford and Limerick and qualified by virtue of a 5 point victory over Limerick in their final game.
Clare teams are always hard to beat at venues in the football heartland in the west of the county and this should no exception especially as it will be their 4th championship game as against Cork’s first - that is bound to be a factor.
Conor Fennell, Daire Qulligan, Sean O’Connor, Luke Pyne and Sean McMahon are among the players that have benefitted from their 3 games to date.
Cork have had to be content with challenge games and the last one didn’t go that well; they were well and truly hammered 5-14 to 0-12 by Louth in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh and will need to improve considerably if they are to get off to a winning start.
The composition of the starting 15 will be interesting but could include Edward Myers, Dara Sheehy, Odhran Foley, Colm Molloy, Brian Hayes, Aaron O’Sullivan, Dylan O’Neill and Danny Miskella.
On the evidence of the Louth game Cork face a tough test, let’s hope they show that that display was a one off.
O’Neill’s.Com Munster Under 20 Hurling Championship
Cork v Tipperary in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Wednesday at 7pm
It’s a bit strange previewing this game as at the time of writing Cork have yet to open their campaign, away to Clare last night (Wednesday), and Tipperary a highly rated side by all accounts, lost their opener to Limerick and in Thurles by 2 points.
Tipperary are the reigning Munster champions and given the trajectory that hurling in the Premier County has been on in recent weeks, they were fancied by many to be serious contenders again and they probably still are but that loss is a setback.
Now if Cork came away from Sixmilebridge last night with a win, they will be in good shape for this contest, coming as it does a few days before the age old rivals meet in the National League Final.
There are some good players in the Cork squad including Timmy Wilke, Ben Walsh, Denis Cashman, John Wigginton Barrett, Barry Walsh, Ross O’Sullivan and Barry O’Flynn.
It would nice to start a huge week for Cork teams by heading to the Páirc on next Wednesday night on the back of a win.