Big weekend for Cork teams
It’s rare enough that the 4 Cork senior teams are in action on the one weekend and 3 of them control their own destiny in terms of qualifying for their respective league finals.
The camogie team can also reach their final but a lot of results would need to go their way - safe to say it’s unlikely to happen.
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Cork v Offaly in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday at 7pm
“Disappointed at losing but delighted with the effort of everyone and we learned a lot out there tonight,” Ben O’Connor said after the loss to Limerick, their 1st in the league, two weeks ago.
“We head to Portugal for a training camp and then we look forward to playing Offaly in the last round.”
That gives them an ideal opportunity to make the league final: “It would be great to do that and if it’s Limerick back up here so be it - another good game to get in preparation for the championship.”
Cork were with a near full strength Limerick for long periods in that game but 2-5 without reply put John Kiely’s side in control, although to be fair Cork kept plugging away and that also pleased Ben.
In the last two games against tough opposition Ben has got game time into a lot of players and it is in such matches that especially the younger players will benefit from.
Barry Walsh for instance showed up well in both outings and will be a better player as a result and he is still under 20.
Injuries have limited the participation of some players and maybe the likes of Mark Coleman and Robert Downey could return on Saturday and possibly Padraig Power who is back in training after a lengthy lay-off.
It does appear though that Diarmuid Healy is unlikely to feature for a number of weeks yet.
It’s been a tough campaign for a very young Offaly side who along with Waterford are already relegated and apart from pride have very little to play for on Saturday. Their priority now is to retain their place for next season in the Leinster Championship.
The composition of the Cork team will be interesting with a league final almost guaranteed management might view this as the last chance to give players a run out especially those that have missed out in recent weeks.
Whatever 15 start Cork will win and could do so with a bit to spare, and again close on 15,000 tickets have already been sold for the game.
The other two games in the group are also on Saturday night; the Tipperary v Kilkenny match is effectively a dead rubber, while most of the concentration will be on the meeting of Limerick and Galway in the Gaelic Grounds, a draw will do Limerick but should Galway win they will make the league final.
The odds are very much that it will be Cork v Limerick on Easter Sunday back in the Gaelic Grounds as per home and away arrangement between the counties.
The Cork v Offaly match is live on C103 and the Onic Player.
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Cork v Tyrone on Sunday in Healy Park Omagh at 1.15pm
“We wanted a response to the loss in Derry and I think we got it today and delighted with the display,” said John Cleary after the win over Kildare that puts them in control of their own destiny with one game remaining.
The performance in Derry was not a reflection of the effort all year. “It came at the end of a tough few weeks, a long trip and injuries to key players who were all back and that was shown in how we played today.”
There was lot to admire about Cork’s display especially in the first half: 8 2 pointers and of the 1-22 scored in the 1st half, 1-19 came from play.
Kildare were poor, and are in danger of being relegated, Offaly are already down.
It was a game they never really looked like winning but there was briefly a period in the 2nd half when they rallied and troubled Cork.
Goalkeeper Patrick Doyle had a wobbly period when a few kick-outs went awry and he picked up a black card when conceding a penalty on 58 minutes.
Micheál Aodh was brought on, saved the penalty and then went on to make at least 3 more very good stops to deny Kildare goals that might have made for a tighter finish.
Interestingly Doyle did not return and that might reignite the debate of who gets the jersey for Sunday, while there’s concern also at how easily the defence was breached. It could very well be a case of job done and concentration lapsed.
There were though more positives, Maurice Shanley, Luke Fahy and Tommy Walsh the latter two among the scorers, were excellent.
Ian Maguire was his usual hard working and efficient self, as was Brian O’Driscoll on his return from injury.
Up front Chris Óg Jones, Mark Cronin, Steven Sherlock were quality and once again Dara Sheedy’s impressive form continues; he has been the find of the league.
Tyrone on Sunday will be another big test John agrees. “Absolutely - we always felt that our 2nd phase of games would be the hardest and that has not changed with 2 of the 3 being away from home.”
Tyrone cannot get promoted and cannot be relegated but have very good players and even in defeat to Meath last Saturday, they scored 2-22 which is clear indication of the quality they can produce.
There is a concern within the county though that this team is losing support, attendance at games has been poor, there was even some suggestion that this game might be moved to a smaller venue.
Ethan Jordan had 1-9 in that game, Darragh Canavan, Niall Devlin, Oisin O’Kane, Ruairí Canavan although he picked up an injury against Meath and might not be risked, and Darren McCurry are big players for Tyrone and will want to end their league campaign with a win at home.
Louth’s win over Derry means a lot can happen on Sunday with a number of teams in contention for the promotion spots, with Cork and Meath who play Offaly favoured to get them.
Cork’s task is tougher but spirit within the group is excellent and they are well capable of getting the required result and with it promotion to Division 1 and finally end their 10 year stay in the 2nd tier.
The match is live on C103 and the Onic Player.
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Cork v Meath at MTU on Saturday at 5pm
Joe Carroll’s side remain the only unbeaten team in this division, and another win in this game will see them into the final with a game to spare - they play Dublin away in the final game.
It’s been a remarkable campaign for a group of players many felt would be in a battle to avoid an immediate return to Division 2, but they showed in their win over Waterford that the trajectory is on an upward curve.
Meath have won just two of their 5 league games and while they are unlikely to make the final they will not want to be dragged into a relegation battle which a defeat here would certainly put them.
They lost last time out to Kildare and will look to bounce back with good players in Rachel Cassidy, Marion Farrelly, Robyn Murray, Orla Finnegan and Sarah Wall.
Cork though have been impressive all campaign with once again Katie Quirke a key player but she is getting excellent back up from Emma Cleary, Mellissa Duggan, Aine Terry O’Sullivan, Dara Kiniry and Abbie O’Mahony and with a place in the final within touching distance and playing at home, they should win.
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Cork v Galway on Saturday at 2pm with venue to be confirmed
The final round of games see Waterford already into the final and who joins them is unclear but given that Kilkenny play Antrim, they look set to get that spot.
It’s been a poor campaign for both Cork and Galway, the respective league and All-Ireland champions of last year.
Cork beat Galway in the league final, a result that was reversed in the All-Ireland Final.
Ger Manley was very disappointed with the draw against Tipperary last Saturday, where a win would have kept them in contention.
“Poor, very poor particularly in the 2nd half; we missed a few chances to close out the game and our scoring return was not good enough while we were sloppy at the back.”
The only positive, if you can call it that is they won’t be relegated.
“No but we have a lot of work to do ahead of the championship and before that we have the Munster Championship, so once the league is over, all our attention will turn towards the coming weeks but we a tough few weeks ahead on the training ground.”
One possibility is that should Cork lose and Antrim win, they will be relegated, so as well as trying to beat Galway they will be keeping a watching brief on events elsewhere.
On Sunday at 2pm, venue to be confirmed Cork play Tipperary in the Munster Under 23 Championship Final, a repeat of last year’s decider in which Cork won after extra-time.
Cork got a real test from Limerick in the semi-final. Amy Sheppard with 1-6, Eimear Duignan, Laura Dunlea, Amy O’Riordan and Rose Murphy all impressing and a repeat performance might be good enough to give them the win and a timely boost ahead of the All-Ireland campaign.