Murray insists the result is irrelevant

CORK camogie boss Paudie Murray says the result of Sunday’s national league Division 1 semi-final against Kilkenny is irrelevant. All-Ireland champions Cork and league champs Kilkenny have built a rivalry in recent seasons, and Sunday’s game is a chance for the Rebels to derail the four-in-a-row chasing Cats – but Murray is more concerned with finding players for the championship rather than the result.

‘I think the result is irrelevant, to be honest,’ Murray told The Southern Star.

‘Putting down a marker to Kilkenny? Looking back over the last couple of years, any game that is there to be won, we have won them.

‘I have gone away from the thinking that we need to win the league and I think it’s more important that we have players that are pushing for places. I always said that during the league that you have to have two players putting their hands up and that’s what we are hoping for.

‘Up to now we have three of last year’s minors playing – Laura Hayes at corner back, Ciara McCarthy at wing forward and Cliona Healy at corner forward – and they have done very, very well and you hope they keep pushing on. Saoirse McCarthy has yet to come into the fray and she’ll have a say in it as well so that’s four players there.

‘Of course it’s a good test but looking at the weather forecast it might not turn out to be a great day so you’d wonder will the match be played or not. From our point of view we will continue to do what we have done in the last couple of years in the league and play the newcomers. The hope is that we will develop a couple of players that will put their hand up later on in the year for the championship.’

Murray is happy with how the league has panned out so far for Cork. There were wins against Tipperary and Waterford and an away draw with Galway in the final game of the group stage.

‘Against Galway we were 2-3 to 0-1 behind after ten minutes, we came back to draw the game and we were probably a bit disappointed that we didn’t win it. When you look at Galway they scored four points in the remaining 54 minutes and we finished that game very well. We are happy with where we are but there is a long way to go.’ First up is Kilkenny this weekend in the league semi-final. Cork have beaten the Cats in the last two All-Ireland finals and they are the bigger battles that Murray has his sights on later this year.