Cork and Mayo renew rivalry
It’s the final round of games in the Sam Maguire Cup with Cork facing Mayo with qualification for the knockout phase still in their own hands, while not for the first time this season both Cork camogie and ladies football teams are involved in yet another fixtures clash.
All-Ireland Senior
Football Championship
Cork v Mayo on Sunday at the Gaelic Grounds at 2pm
When these side last met in championship, it was also in the Gaelic Grounds in 2017, on the very day that Páirc Uí Chaoimh hosted two inter-county hurling championship games.
Mayo won with an injury time point in extra-time, 0-27 to 2-22, and on the day Sean Powter was the stand out player for Cork and was an All-Star nominee.
The race for the 3 places is effectively down to the result of the Kerry v Louth. Mayo are already qualified, as the Leinster side are pointless, but a win for them which would be a huge surprise, and a win or a draw for Cork would put Kerry out, unlikely to happen though.
Cork by virtue of their win over Louth look set to progress, and they have a lot to play for; a win might see them top the group but if not, they could secure a home game in the preliminary QF, but at the very least they should reach that stage of the championship.
Of course they will be aiming for the best possible result and came close to beating Kerry last time out. Penalty issue aside, they were wasteful with a few opportunities, but showed enough to suggest the trajectory is going in the right direction.
Mayo looked very good in their win over Kerry and were then a bit flat against Louth, maybe in the back of their minds they felt they would win easily and as a consequence struggled, but in fairness Louth with their defensive approach are not easy to play against.
If they repeat the performance of the Kerry game they will be very hard to beat and they have been knocking at the door in recent years.
Kevin McStay seems to be getting a lot right and I can’t help feeling he wasn’t one bit upset at their early exit from the Connacht Championship, a week after winning the league title.
A seven week run in to the Kerry game was ideal and they showed the benefits with a comfortable win that would have been by a bigger margin was it not for a number of excellent saves by goalkeeper Shane Ryan.
There is a settled look to McStay’s side with Jack Coyne, Sam Callinan, Conor Loftus and Padraig O’Hora anchoring a solid defence.
Matthew Ruane is a quality midfielder, while in attack Aidan O’Shea, Jack Carney and Ryan O’Donoghue were very effective in their two wins to date, with Diarmuid O’Connor another option.
Cork Manager John Cleary was fuming at the penalty decision but equally he said: “We had chances and did not convert them and ultimately that is what cost us, but look we kept at it.”
John was also glad of the two week break. “Very much so, we have a couple of niggling little knocks, Conor Corbett was unavailable for today (v Kerry) and hopefully he should be okay, while we will also look at one or two others.”
Mayo will be tough, he said. “Without a doubt one of the top teams of the last few years, but that is the level we want to be playing at, and we have a good enough record against them, and we also have an awful lot to play for in terms of qualification, so we will be going there to win.”
The team is unlikely to change much from the Kerry game, particularly in defence as the injured players are not expected to be fit, but Kevin O’Donovan and Rory Maguire played well, while Daniel O’Mahoney and Luke Fahy continue to impress, Matty Taylor and Maurice Shanley should complete the sextet fronting goalkeeper Micheál Aodh Martin.
Ian Maguire who like Powter, Ruairi Deane, Brian O’Driscoll and John O’Rourke are survivors from the 2017 game, will partner Colm O’Callaghan in midfield.
The attack could change as both Steven Sherlock and Eoghan McSweeney played well when introduced, and between them kicked 0-4, and have put their hands up for selection.
Brian Hurley, Sean Powter and Deane will start with a bit deliberation to go into the final couple of positions.
Mayo will start as favourites and Cork will look to get a good start and hopefully be a bit better with their shooting and option taking, and if they can stay in the game for as long as possible, they are well capable of getting the win.
It should make for a lively encounter but whatever the outcome, one way or another I expect they will progress, where to and where they go will be determined when the full round of games are completed.
The game is live on C103.
Camogie and ladies football
While both these teams are involved in vital championship games, it’s the fact that once again there is a clash of fixtures on Saturday that is the dominant theme.
The camogie team are playing Down in Páirc Uí Chaoimh at 3pm, while at 7.30pm, it’s Cork v Galway in ladies football in Pearse Stadium Salthill.
It happened a few weeks ago when both played Munster championship games on the same day, how it is been repeated again beggars belief.
I’m not sure who is at fault but if the two organisations that are responsible for the promotion of these excellent championship keeping making these fixtures, how can they possibly be serious about integration with the GAA?
Surely it must be put your own house in order first and be respectful to the players that want to play both codes, do not make them choose.
It is possible that the respective management teams will come to some arrangement but is that right when the situation is not of their making, and to compound matters a similar situation is happening on 1 July.
Interestingly neither side were in action last weekend, and are both free on the weekend of 24/25 June yet those responsible come up with this fixture clash - my word for that is incompetence.
With the increased number of games in both hurling and football championships, there has been a huge fixture programme of games and while the dual player at that level is no longer common, what I have noticed is that no county was asked to play hurling and football championship on the same day. Now if the GAA can get it right surely with a bit more thought, the camogie and LGFA can do it, or do they really want to?
As of now (Wednesday) neither manager is aware of who will be available to them. I understand the GPA are endeavouring to resolve a situation that could and should have been avoided. As for the games themselves, the camogie team are in a must-win situation having lost to Galway in Round 1; in fact they have lost their last 4 games, 3 to Galway and it is a long time since that happened to a Cork camogie team at this level.
Their 2nd half performance against Galway was bad; just 2 points from frees is a poor return and they will need a huge improvement if they are keep their season alive.
Down tested Clare but came up short and know that they to need to win this game and will look to Niamh Mallon, Lauren Clarke, Beth Fitzpatrick, Isabella O’Hare and Catherine McGourty to try and cause an upset.
The composition of the Cork 15 will be interesting but experienced players like Laura Tracey, Meabh Cahalane, Saoirse McCarthy, Amy O’Connor, Emma Murphy and Katrina Mackey should all feature and despite the uncertainty, Cork should win, and set it up nicely for a winner takes all clash with Clare in two weeks time.
In contrast to the camogie team, the ladies footballers and starting their championship campaign in a rich vein of form, and while they have lost Erika O’Shea from the panel, they head west in confident mood.
The league produced mixed results but they excelled in the Munster Championship and an unbeaten run saw them into the final where they saw off newly crowned league champions Kerry in some style, with Doireann O’Sullivan scoring 0-11.
Mellissa Duggan, Eimear Kiely, Ciara O’Sullivan and Katie Quirke are others who have made important contributions in recent games and will be keen to maintain their winning momentum.
Galway at home will be hard to beat but you sense that this Cork is developing into genuine All-Ireland contender and I expect they will make a winning start on Saturday.
County championships
There’s one game tonight (Thursday) in the Division and Colleges section. Coachford at 7.30pm is the venue for the meeting of Duhallow and Muskerry in football.
How disappointing it is to see Beara, a proud football division, withdraw from the competition. Given that the club championship does not start until late July and this week sees the concluding rounds in the league, it should not have been that hard to get 20 players to make themselves available.