FOR Cork Saturday was a day they will want to forget quickly as they bowed out of the TG4 All-Ireland Senior Ladies Football championship, losing out to Mayo in the quarter-final at Cusack Park, Ennis.

They would have gone into the tie as favourites but the Connacht side came out on top by 2-13 to 0-17, in a game that the Rebels were not at their best.

Luck also deserted them with two goal chances they would normally take not ending up with green flags. 

But credit must also go to Mayo who were outstanding on the day and Cork manager Shane Ronayne was quick to recognise that and wish them the best in the semi-final.

Whilst it will take some time to sink in have no doubt Ronayne will look back and learn a lot from this in his first year as the Cork manager.

On the day Cork made mistakes that they don’t normally make, whether it was nerves or just one of those days Ronayne couldn’t put his finger on why afterward.

“We are gutted to have lost and there are a lot of disappointed players in the dressing room there now,” said Ronayne.

“Credit to Mayo they played really well and we just couldn’t come to grips with it. 

"It’s hard to put a finger on it but we made mistakes today we don’t normally make and you can’t afford to do that against sides like them.

“We didn’t play up to our potential overall, we would have been happy with our shooting but there were others things that we wouldn’t be happy about. 

"Things we have been working on all year that didn’t go very well today. They had a very good system of play and set themselves up well and we didn’t counteract it enough. 

"They deserved their win.

“There was a passage of play in the second-half when a ball slipped through a player’s hands and they get a point when we could have been in for one at the other end. 

"Then from the restart we make a mistake and they are in for a goal and suddenly instead of being level we are five points down.

“Hard to put a finger on where it went wrong and we are just gutted as the players put in a massive effort for the year. 

"We will have to go away now and look at everything before we look to next season but it’s heart breaking to be out of the championship,” concluded Ronayne.