Local trio named on Cork minor camogie squad

MILLIE Condon, Amy McCarthy and Fiona Twohig will be part of this year’s Cork Camogie panel for the 2023 All-Ireland Minor A Championship.

The rising stars from Ballinascarthy (Condon) and Clonakilty (McCarthy) are joined by Twohig from Valley Rovers in manager Jerry Wallace’s confirmed 30-strong panel.

Cork will be eager to retain a trophy they won in splendid fashion last year. Jerry Wallace oversaw the Rebels’ campaign, culminating in a 2-11 to 2-7 Tesco All-Ireland minor final defeat of Galway at FBD Semple Stadium.

The 2022 Cork minor panel included Twohig, Condon, Caoimhe Murphy (Kilbree), Emily O’Donovan (Kilbree) and Ellen Murphy (Kilbrittain/Timoleague). Castlehaven legend Niall Cahalane’s daughter and Cork senior Orlaith Cahalane (St Finbarr’s) was also part of that success, contributing 1-3 in the final against Galway.

Clonakilty’s Amy McCarthy played a pivotal role in Cork’s Munster and All-Ireland U16 Championship triumphs last year. Newcestown’s Alice Buckley was also part of Cork manager Donie Daly’s third All-Ireland U16 title success in as many years.

Amy McCarthy, alongside fellow midfielder, Sarsfield’s Ava Fitzgerald, helped Cork overcome Tipperary 2-18 to 0-10 amid sweltering conditions in the All-Ireland final.

‘We’re after having a good winter, recuperated well and ready to go again with the Cork minor camogie squad for 2023,’ Jerry Wallace told The Southern Star.

‘We’ve been working away for the last couple of months and trialling lots of players. I was very fortunate, along with my management team, to announce the panel for 2023 last weekend. Last Sunday, I also had the unfortunate task of having to contact 15 girls that had come down to the last cut but did not make it on to the final panel of 30.

‘This year we have eight dual players involved and they will require careful [time] management. We have a very healthy panel at the moment. It includes 14 players from last year’s Munster and All-Ireland championship-winning U16 panel. There are ten players from 2022’s minor All-Ireland winning team. We’ve added six players that were U17 and didn't make last year's minor panel as well.

‘So there is a very strong group of players ready to represent Cork at minor camogie level this year.’

There is a new All-Ireland camogie minor championship format for 2023. Cork will compete in a round-robin tournament where the top four ranked counties progress to the All-Ireland minor semi-finals.

Cork begin their minor championship with two road trips. Dublin are Jerry Wallace’s side’s first opponents on March 12th. That’s followed by an equally difficult assignment away to Waterford seven days later. Tipperary visit Leeside in the third round of the minor A championship on March 26th before Cork take on arch rivals Kilkenny on April 2nd. The Rebels complete their round-robin fixture-list against the county they defeated for last year’s title, Galway, on April 15th/16th.

Should Cork accrue enough points, they will contest an All-Ireland minor semi-final on April 22nd/23rd. This year’s minor All-Ireland decider is pencilled in for the weekend of May 6th/7th.

‘Wexford, Limerick, Clare and Antrim withdrew from this year’s minor A grade,’ Jerry Wallace explained.

‘Those counties would always have been involved in tier 1 since I first got involved back in 2018. They have all elected to play tier 2 this coming year.

‘So the Camogie Association have put all remaining tier 1 teams into the one group for 2023. Each of us will play one another once before the semi-finals and final.

‘It’s fabulous to have this new format because, as a Cork camogie minor player, if you are good enough, you will play a minimum of five All-Ireland championship games. There are semi-finals and possibly a final to play too.

‘Everyone involved in the Cork camogie minor setup is excited and looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead.’