Darren Browne Kanturk, Diarmuid O’Leary Red FM CEO, Connor Power Blarney, Luke Dineen Midleton, Fergus Lordan Courcey Rovers, Marc Sheehan Chair Cork GAA and Jack Doyle Charleville at the launch of the 2022 Redfm Club hurling league in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Photo: Gerard McCarthy

Yet another must win game for the footballers

With the hurlers safely into the league semi-final with 4 wins from 4, the opposite applies to the footballers just 1 point from their 4 games and in a real dogfight to avoid relegation. It’s also a big weekend also for Cork Camogie with three teams involved in vital games.

Allianz NFL Division 2

Cork v Meath in Páirc Tailteann Navan on Sunday at 2pm

It seems that ever since losing to Roscommon in the opening game, Cork have been under pressure and now four games in, they still await their first win, with only 1 point gained through a home draw with Clare.

On Sunday they face a Meath side in a similar position, that pointed gained courtesy of an injury time against Offaly.

As many predicted, Cork, Offaly, Down and Meath are all battling for survival and in the remaining games they all play one another to decide their fate.

Offaly and Down play on Saturday night so Cork and Meath will know what’s required when they meet; it does not take a genius to work it out, a win is a must.

There was some rumblings at the end of last year about Andy McEntee’s position; in fact it was the clubs that kept him in his position against the wishes of the County Executive, relegation and a poor championship run might bring his reign to an end.

With home advantage they will fancy their chances of winning on Sunday.

They will though be without their captain Shane McEntee, a son of the manager, he heads off to Mali with the defence forces shortly and has opted out to prepare for his departure.

Meath have always proved hard to beat for Cork, even when they are not at their best, a case in point was the last time they met in Navan. Cork actually won but only with a few late scores.

Joey Wallace saved them in the draw with Offaly with the goal, while Matthew Costello, Jordan Morris, Eoin Harkin, Donal Keegan, Ronan Jones, Shane Walsh and Cillian O’Sullivan will be determined to get that elusive first win.

After the Galway game, Keith Ricken had mixed emotions, but his overriding one was of disappointment: “Disappointed for the players because of the effort they put in not only here tonight, but in training during the week and I know when we get back at it next week, the spirit will still be strong.”

Keith also bemoaned the injury toll that has ruled several players out of action, the most recent been defender Sean Meehan who was excellent up until his departure after which Galway put the game to bed with 2 quick goals. The goalkeeper on the night Chris Kelly also looks set for a spell on the sidelines.

Cork’s tally of 2-17 would have won many a game, the following day the hurlers got 2-19 when beating Limerick, but defensively they need to be better.

The other issue Cork had was an inability to win their own kick-out and that too needs to be addressed, as winning these gives a platform to shape the outcome of games.

There were positives in the Galway game, even if the win eluded them. Tadgh Corkery continues to impress in defence, Ian Maguire put in another good shift but he needs a good and hard working midfield partner to share the load.

Steven Sherlock was excellent in attack and his return from play and placed balls kept Cork in the game, even the late scores that were scored could be crucial if scoring difference comes into play.

I understand there was an A v B game played over the weekend where a number of players that were carrying knocks were expected to play and might be in contention for the trip to Navan.

Miceal Aodh Martin looks set to return as goalkeeper, while Corkery, Mattie Taylor, Kevin O’Donovan and Billy Hennessey could be in the defence.

It will be interesting to see who partners Maguire in midfield, it was Rory Maguire in the Galway game and it might very well be the Castlehaven player whose doing okay for his first year, like so many, on the team.

Sherlock will once again carry the main threat in attack but if fit, the return of Brian Hurley will be a help, while Blake Murphy and Colm O’Callaghan should feature.

Cathal O’Mahoney, Kieran Histon, Brian Hayes and Brian Hartnett might also come into consideration if they came through the weekend game without any reaction to their injuries.

Cork have not been good on their travels, they played poorly in Roscommon and Derry and will need to reverse that trend if they are to get their first win. It will not be easy but Meath are also under pressure, if Cork can produce a consistent 70 minutes and be tighter in defence they might just sneak it.

Interestingly there was over 5,000 in Navan last Saturday for the Dublin v Meath Ladies Football game, will it go anywhere near that on Sunday?

The game will be live on C103.

Camogie

Division 1 Littlewood’s League

Cork v Kilkenny on Saturday at Páirc Uí Chaoimh at 2pm

“It’s great and we are delighted that after 2 wins we now play Kilkenny for a place in the league final,” said Cork defender Laura Treacy after the comfortable win over Limerick two weeks ago.

As for the influence of Davey Fitzgerald, “he’s been brilliant as have all the backroom team, but Davey is full of enthusiasm and energy and that rubs off on us as players, there’s a long season ahead but we are really looking forward to the next few months”.

It was always likely to pan out the way it has given that Cork and Kilkenny were a good bit ahead of Clare and Limerick although somewhat surprisingly Kilkenny struggled to beat Clare - just 1 point in it in the end, which means a draw will probably do Cork on Saturday.

The sides last met in the All-Ireland semi-final and Cork emerged winners after a thrilling contest and over the years there has been very little between two evenly matched sides.

Even allowing for the poor quality of the opposition, Cork were impressive in beating Limerick with some very good scores putting the game to bed early.

Cliona Healy was in top form that day and she got excellent support from Ashling Thompson, Amy O’Connor, Amy Lee, Laura Hayes and Sorcha McCartan.

Kilkenny will look to improve on their display against Clare and they will relish the opportunity to beat Cork especially on home soil.

Like Cork, there are a lot of quality players in the Kilkenny side, Aoife Norris, Grace Walsh, Miriam Walsh, Katie Power, Niamh Deeley and Claire Phelan.

It should be an interesting contest helped by the quality of the pitch in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, but a more settled looking Cork side should shade it and progress to the league decider in a couple of weeks time.

The Division 2 side play Derry in Castle Road at 3pm and it’s just a pity that a double-header could not be arranged. Both of these sides have 1 win and 1 defeat so the losers of this game will fail to make the last four.

Cork were poor in their loss to Wexford in the first round but improved to get the better of Kildare, they will need to improve again if they are to win this one and with good players in Niamh O’Leary, Leanne O’Sullivan, Joanne Casey and Finola Neville might have enough in hand to get over the line.

The final game of the weekend is on Sunday once again in Castle Road. At 2pm it’s the Tesco All-Ireland Minor quarter-final. Cork, who were runners-up to Kilkenny in last year’s final will be strong favourites to get the better of Waterford.

General

Best wishes to Beara Community School who play Belmullet CS in the Al-Ireland PP Senior D Football Final in Doora-Barefield on Saturday at 2pm. They had a great win in the semi-final and if Fintan Fenner and Tim O’Connor have recovered from injury they might bring the title back to the peninsula.

Good performance by the hurlers last Saturday night in securing a pace in the Allianz NL semi-final, with a game to spare against Wexford on Sunday week, who have also qualified.

There was a strange atmosphere in the stadium despite the attendance of over 13,000; no doubt the sad passing of Paul Shefflin impacting on Galway’s display, but Cork did what was required and Kieran Kingston will be pleased at the depth in squad right now with a lot of players getting valuable game time.

Finally on a sad note, sincere sympathy to the family of Denis O’Riordan of Valley Rovers who passed away over the weekend, a committed and dedicated board delegate and a most diligent and efficient steward in Piárc Uí Chaoimh and Páirc Uí Rinn on big match days and not so big match days, he will be missed. May he rest in peace.