Cork 1-15

Waterford 1-14

JOE Carroll has called this a ‘week of hope’ as Cork’s TG4 All-Ireland senior championship hopes hang in the balance.

The hope is that Armagh can do the Rebels a huge favour and beat Waterford in the final Group 1 round-robin game this Saturday – it’s the only result that will guarantee Cork a spot in the All-Ireland quarter-finals.

But if Waterford get a positive result – either a win or a draw – in Omagh, then Cork will face a relegation battle to preserve their senior status.

‘It's a week of hope up to Saturday,’ the Cork boss told The Southern Star.

The Rebels’ stirring one-point away win against Waterford last Saturday has Cork in contention for the knockout stages, and was the perfect response after a damaging 4-10 to 1-9 home loss to Armagh the previous weekend.

‘Hopefully there won't be any regret on Saturday evening that we didn't do a better job against Armagh or keep the score down a bit more, which would put even more pressure on Waterford going up there,’ Carroll adds.

‘But it's also a week of looking back on what we've done, and a week of pride in that display against Waterford. It’s a great sign of a team that was beaten by ten points the week before and then comes back and produces that performance.

‘We'd struggled in the previous games and were on a losing run. It showed huge resilience. You have to be proud of where the girls found that from, just to keep it going and keep it going.

‘Hopefully we'll get our reward on Saturday evening.’

Áine Terry O'Sullivan kicked 0-2 against Waterford.

While Armagh are already assured of a quarter-final spot, a win will secure the Orchard County home advantage in the next phase, so they have something to play for – that’s good news for Cork whose fate is out of their hands.

‘The only plan we have is that we'll train Wednesday and train Friday, and hopefully when we arrive for training on Sunday morning there'll be smiling faces because we're preparing for a quarter-final,’ Carroll says.

‘But if it turns out we're preparing for a relegation battle, there's nothing we can do about that except face it positively. We know we're well capable of staying up if it comes to that. But hopefully it won't.’

Carroll, understandably, is keen to accentuate the positives after their comeback victory at Fraher Field. On a four-game losing streak since winning the Division 1 league title, Cork trailed by six points, 1-14 to 0-11, with seven minutes left.

But they didn’t lie down.

Instead, the Rebels rallied.

Captain Emma Cleary, set up by Melissa Duggan, started the comeback to cut the gap to five points.

With over three minutes left, Katie Quirke was fouled in the square, and picked herself up to score the penalty, sending the keeper the wrong way.

Scores from Áine Terry O’Sullivan and Rachel O’Regan, incredibly, levelled the contest.

There was still time for Quirke to score the winning point with five seconds left – a point that keeps Cork alive in this championship.

Captain Emma Cleary in full flight.

‘They showed that resilience against Armagh the previous game as well,’ Carroll insisted.

‘We were ten points down at half-time and brought it back to four. If we had taken our chances, it could have been a lot closer. But we just didn't take our chances, and we emphasised that all week.

‘We had a lot of straight talking during the week. A lot of things were taken on board.

‘Again, in the first half against Waterford, we created chances. We had nine wides in the first half, which is huge. If we had taken even half of those chances, the match would have been very close at half-time.

‘We kept stressing that the work-rate was there, but we needed a bit more composure up front and to start getting a few scores.

‘The big thing for us in the second half was that we never gave up. It went from seven down to three or four, then back out to six or seven again, but we just kept plugging and plugging away.

‘Our subs had a huge impact as well. Rachel O'Regan got three points, Abigail Ring got on a huge amount of ball and set things up, and Siobhán Callanan came in at half-time and had a big impact too.’

The Cork boss admits his team were inconsistent during the Munster championship, losing all three games, including against Waterford, but he feels they have their ‘bite and drive’ back.

The hope is that it’s not too late to rescue their championship season.

They trailed 1-8 to 0-4 at half-time in Waterford, Kellyann Hogan leading the charge for the home side. They led by four before Quirke got Cork up and running with a free.

The Rebels looked to be in a spot of bother when Karen McGrath goaled for the home side to open a six-point lead. By the break, the gap was seven. Cork needed to produce something special, and they did with a late, late comeback.

‘Hopefully, if we get the chance to go on to a quarter-final, it'll give them the belief that they can do even better the next day,’ Carroll said.

‘It was just huge belief that got us over the line. They never gave up. I was watching the game back on Monday morning and with just over three minutes to go, we were still six points down. To come from there and just keep plugging away was brilliant.’

Now all Cork need is a favour from Armagh. It’s time to light a few candles.

Scorers 

Cork: K Quirke 1-5 (1-0 pen, 4f); R O’Regan 0-3; A Terry O’Sullivan, E Cleary 0-2 each; L Hallihan, S McGoldrick, A Corcoran 0-1 each.

Waterford: K Hogan 0-8 (5f); K McGrath 1-1; B McMaugh 0-2; K Murray, C Walsh, L McGregor 0-1 each.

Cork: S Murphy; M Duggan, S Kelly, D Kiniry; A Corcoran, S McGoldrick, R Corkery; M O’Callaghan, K Redmond; R Leahy, L Hallihan, E Cleary; G Murphy, K Quirke, A O’Sullivan.

Subs: R O’Regan for R Leahy (28), S Callanan for D Kiniry (ht), A Ring for G Murphy (44), K O’Driscoll for M Duggan (54).

Waterford: K Gardner; C Murray, L Mulcahy, R Casey; L Cusack, K McGrath, R Browne; E Power, Á O’Neill; M Daly, K Hogan, K Murray; C Walsh, B McMaugh, L McGregor.

Subs: A McGrath for L Cusack (44), C Fennell for B McMaugh (48), L Ní hArta for K McGrath (49), H McGrath for C Walsh (57).

Referee: R McBride (Dublin).