Shane Ronayne: Cork are exactly where they want to be
Libby Coppinger of Cork shoots to score her side's second goal against Waterford. Picture: Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile
IT was job done for Cork as they move on to the quarter-finals, where they'll face Mayo on July 9.
Beyond that, the Rebels will take on the winners of Kerry and Armagh in the semi-finals, with Dublin and Meath on the other side of the draw.
The game in Portlaoise on Saturday was a frustrating watch at times as Waterford adopted a blanket defence.
“We were expecting that but I don’t think we adapted very well to it, particularly in the first half,” said Ronayne, “we forced a lot of things and we would have been disappointed with that at half-time. But I think we finished the first-half well and we got two good scores from being four down and had it back to two.
“It was a manageable lead and I thought in the second half we played some very good football, totally controlled the game and dominated every sector of the field. I think our defence was outstanding in that half and we took the scores, probably could have got a couple more. So we are very happy with the second-half display.”
The wind was a major factor, with Cork having it after the break and Ronayne said: “I thought we played very well with it and probably have kicked a few more shots. We would have been disappointed they didn’t shoot a bit more but the girls were conscious of not giving the ball away too easily.
“The conditions were difficult to play in and the way Waterford set up as well made it tough too. I have no complaints about that, if they had come out of here with the right result with that set-up more power to them.
Aggression in the tackle and their defence is something that Cork have been working on and keeping their opponents scoreless for the second half displayed that.
“Especially in the second half they did the exact things we asked them to do, we met them early in the tackle, we knocked them back outside the 45 and didn’t allow them too much time in the scoring zone, whereas in the first-half I thought they got inside us a bit. That is something we have been working on and would be happy overall with how we went today.
“We have two weeks now to be ready for the quarter-final and we hope the bodies will be ok after today, but look we are exactly where we want to be. We topped the group, we played some good football, our defence has been excellent so we are looking forward to the quarter-final now."
