U23 camogie team face old rivals in All-Ireland Final
After a weekend of mixed results for the senior teams, it’s much quieter this week with the focus very much on the minor footballers and a big All-Ireland Camogie Championship Final.
All-Ireland Under 23 Camogie Championship Final
Cork v Kilkenny on Sunday in Fraher Field Dungarvan at 3.30pm
“It’s been a good campaign with plenty of excellent wins even if at times we were missing key players but that gave others the opportunity to play,” Cork manager Jerry Wallace said on Sunday’s final.
Ironically the only defeat in the group phase came at the hands of Sunday’s opposition in Freshford, “A tough game - we were down a few players that day but we had no complaints as Kilkenny were the better team, but we learned a lot from that game and that will help us.”
It’s an important grade and winning would help: “Some of these players will be hopefully seniors in the future and what better way to up to that grade than with an All-Ireland medal?”
Jerry has worked with some of these players at minor and the fact that a few have experience of playing on camogie’s biggest day will help. “The likes of Orlaith (Cahalane), Meabh (Murphy) and Aoife (Barrett) will bring that experience to this team.”
As with all Kilkenny teams, Jerry is expecting a real battle:
“There is no such thing as a bad team from that county and they will be confident having beaten us already, but we are happy with our preparation and really looking forward to the game.”
On successive weeks, Cork racked up big scores in wins over Tipperary who many felt rested players 1st day out as they were due to meet again in the semi-final, but the result was an even heavier defeat which pleased the manager.
“It did because it showed the desire within the group to keep on winning and that was important.”
Kilkenny had a real battle in their semi-final win over Galway with Claire Doheny getting the winning goal while Ellen Gunner scored 0-10, Leah Brett, Keara Ryan and Kate McCluskey all played well, but they are a bit dependent on Gunner for scores and if Cork can contain her, their scoring opportunities will be limited.
Apart from the those already mentioned, Cork have very good players in Niamh Mac Nabola, Amy Sheppard, Ava Fitzgerald, Ciara Golden and Millie Condon and it will take a big effort to deny Cork victory.
Munster Minor Football Final
Cork v Kerry on Monday in Páirc Uí Rinn at 7.35pm
A third Munster Final meeting between old rivals in the space of 10 days and so far the Kingdom have prevailed in the other two, so can Cork deny them another clean sweep?
Keith Ricken’s side have impressed in their 3 games to date and had a place in the final secured before the win over before the win over Waterford last Monday night.
When the sides met in Tralee, Cork were comfortable winners and dominated from start to finish and as a consequence Marc Ó Se re-jigged his team making 5 changes for what in the end was an easy win over Clare.
With Maidhic Ó Se, Danny Lane, Daithi Laide, Sean Clifford, Tom Slattery and Darragh Keane all impressing in that win they will be determined to show that they are much better now than what they showed two weeks ago.
Keith is delighted with the way his side has progressed in the championship. “A very committed group of lads who work hard at their game; we have used a lot of players for various reasons, injuries included, but it has not weakened our team, in fact it’s made us stronger.”
Having won easily last week, Keith knows Kerry will be a different team in the final. “Of course they will, they’re Kerry after all, but we will just look after ourselves get our prep done and look at where we can improve and as we always do give it our best shot.”
Playing at home will help and Keith is hoping for a big Cork crowd. “A Munster Final is special and with it being here (Páirc Uí Rinn) makes it better and look there was a nice crowd in Tralee and hopefully the supporters will get behind the team.”
This is a very good Cork team and they play a nice brand of football moving the ball at pace and have racked up big scores in their wins to date.
Goalkeeper Rory Twohig is well able to kick long range points as he has done but he’s also very effective as his primary job of shot stopping.
Gabriel Oronsaye, Darragh O’Sullivan and Eanna Lynch are solid defenders.
Kieran O’Shea is a quality midfielder while the attack has prospered and with a good and effective supply, Ben Hegarty, Joe Miskella, Alex O’Herlihy and Jacob Barry are well capable of troubling any defence.
Kerry have dominated this championship in recent years, but Cork are well capable of winning this title and while both sides go to the All-Ireland QFs it would be nice if Cork were to go there as champions.
Munster Hurling Championship
3 wins from 3 for Ben O’Connor’s side and with a home game against Clare to come, can Cork now become the 1st team since the current format was introduced to win all 4 games?
Of course events over the weekend when Tipperary play Clare and Limerick meet Waterford will shape how this phase will finish.
Barring an amazing sequence of results, Cork are almost certainly in the final, and with Limerick’s remaining games at home - they play Tipperary the same day Cork meet Clare, it looks like a repeat of the League Final in the Munster Final and that will be in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
However the Munster Championship is nothing if not unpredictable and it’s best not to rule anyone in or out with 2 rounds to go, apart from Waterford who despite their excellence in their 3 games to date are to all intents and purposes out of the equation and their wait to emerge from the group goes on.
Cork have won their games somewhat differently to last season with grit and determination which has in many respects lowered the expectations but not the desire within the group.
The panel is also evolving, with Hugh O’Connor (0-2 in Walsh Park on his championship debut), Alan Walsh and Padraig Power all seeing game time.
The starting 15 for the Clare game will be interesting, especially if a place in the final is secured by then.
Ben has always said he wants to win every game, that won’t change and the fact that our record against Brian Lohan’s side is poor; he and the players will want to rectify that.
It was a disappointing week for both the under 20s and minors as they lost out on their bid for Munster Final spots, the 20s season is over but at least the minors have and All-Ireland PQ against Wexford to try and get back on track.
Munster Football Championship
John Cleary was very disappointed after the 8 point defeat to Kerry in Killarney. “We never played as well as we know we can, the half-time lead was never going to be enough given the strength of wind.”
That sums it up perfectly and when you only score 1-2 in 35 minutes you are never going to win, especially against a team as good as Kerry.
It was a great opportunity to end our long wait for a win down there given they were without so many players but their success at underage level over the years caME to the fore as players seemed to fit in seamlessly.
For John and his backroom team and no doubt the players the job is to get back on track and focus on the Meath game in Páirc Uí Rinn on Saturday week.
Meath were surprisingly beaten by Westmeath in the championship and that was a setback as they were favourites to win Leinster on the back wining the Div 2 League title and Dublin not as strong as in recent years.
They have had 3 weeks to prepare for this game and will be confident of repeating the win of the last time the sides met.
There is though resilience in this Cork side and no doubt they will be determined to put the Munster Championship behind and get back to winning ways.
Playing in Páirc Uí Rinn will help Cork as they showed in the league it’s a venue that they are comfortable with and hopefully the support they got in Killarney will not desert them and they turn up in big numbers again.