CORK need to take their game to the next level to trouble Kerry in their Munster LGFA senior championship opener – that’s the honest assessment of Rebels boss Joe Carroll.
While Cork regrouped in Division 2 this season and earned promotion to the top tier after six wins in seven games, the Kingdom followed up their All-Ireland success last season by winning the Division 1 title earlier this month.
Evidence of the gulf between the teams was served up at Croke Park at the recent league finals. On the same day Cork came up short against Galway in the Division 2 decider, losing 2-8 to 1-5 after leading by three at the break, Kerry thumped Armagh 4-14 to 0-11 in the Division 1 final. These are two teams at different stages of their development – Cork regrouping under new management, whereas this dominant Kerry is a seasoned outfit that knows how to win.
‘We want a performance and then let’s see where that takes us,’ Carroll says ahead of Saturday’s Munster opener at Cloughduv (2pm).
‘We got a performance in the first half against Galway, but we didn’t get it for the full 60 minutes. On Saturday we want to perform for longer.
‘Kerry are a step ahead of most teams right now, they beat Galway in last year’s All-Ireland final and Galway have beaten us twice this season, so we need to improve on the league final to give Kerry a match.’
Carroll believes Cork can take that next step and close the gap on the top teams like Kerry, and to do that the Rebels need to be more ruthless. In the Division 2 final Cork kicked just three scores from play, and had a conversion rate of 37 percent from play – compare that to Kerry’s conversion rate of 64 percent from play against Armagh in the Division 1 decider. Joe Carroll saw how clinical Galway were when they were presented with two second-half goal chances, and he wants that efficiency from his team.
Melissa Duggan was named on the Division 2 team of the league.
‘The Galway goals came from our errors; we had the ball in our possession, we lost it on both occasions coming out and Galway punished us. Kerry will be very similar – they scored four goals against Armagh and showed how ruthless they are. It’s something we have to work on, to be more ruthless when we get our chances,’ the Rebels boss admits.
If Cork – second top scorers in Division 2 – can convert more scoring opportunities, it will push them closer to the leading counties. It’s one of the lessons Carroll’s charges learned in their league campaign.
‘A lot of the teams have gone quite defensive, so we need to be able to deal with that. When we went behind in the league final I thought we struggled to try and break Galway down. We did well in the first half and maybe should have scored more,’ Carroll explains.
‘We need to be more clinical when we are on top because it can create a bigger gap if teams come back at you. Kerry are no different to that; if they get a lead they are well able to defend it so we need to learn how to play in those situations.’
Cork did score 14 goals in the league, Libby Coppinger leading the way with four, while Emma Cleary (3), Laura O’Mahony (2), Katie Quirke, Aimee Corcoran, Hannah Looney, Áine Terry O’Sullivan and Orlaith Roche all rattled the net as well. This young Rebels team knows they must take their chances against Kerry this Saturday afternoon. In the weeks that follow Cork are away to Waterford on May 4th, and then Tipperary on May 11th. The top two counties after the round-robin stage will contest the final on May 25th in Mallow.
Meanwhile, four Cork players were named on the Division 2 team of the Lidl National Football Leagues as Melissa Duggan (right corner back), Shauna Kelly (full back), Rosie Corkery (left half back) and Katie Quirke (left corner forward) were all selected.
