Linda Mellerick on camogie: Cork must use intermediate grade to blood young players

AS another camogie season ends at adult level, it’s time to reflect.

Two senior final visits to Croke Park, in league and championship, and defeats to Galway and Kilkenny respectively. A 2-14 to 1-13 loss to Galway after being six in front at the start of the second half. The championship final was a one-point defeat 1-13 to 1-12.

Our intermediate side lost by two points to Galway in the All-Ireland final.

Are Cork in with as strong a chance as anyone of winning both championship titles next year? Of course.

What to change?

This year we relied on wing-backs Laura Hayes and Saoirse McCarthy to burst forward and pick off scores. This they did to good effect in many games but not so much in the semi-final and final.

Our wing-forwards were then dropping back into the space that they vacated. While the odd spontaneous attacking burst from the flanks is wonderful to see, it should be opportunistic more so than the game plan.

It is a huge bonus to have the likes of McCarthy, Hayes. and Ashling Thompson picking off long-distance points, but it’s up front where we really need to be confident of getting a return. We didn’t get too much from there when it mattered.

It’s fine to be clocking up scores against the weaker counties in the group stages, but when it comes down to the final four Cork were shown up. In the league final of 1-13, just 1-6 came from our forward division. Cork forwards scored 1-5 from play in the All-Ireland final.

Orla Cronin and Linda Collins are back for 2023 and that gives Matthew Twomey a giant boost. With those players back, we will significantly increase our scoring capacity and working on maximising that I imagine will be the plan.

Thompson has had her cruciate operation and is going through her rehab. We’ll have to see how that goes. Olivia McAllen and Katie O’Mahony are also in cruciate recovery. Liam Cronin is back in as coach to the side. He was involved in 2020 and Matthew and the players liked what they saw.

Cork never really hit form in 2022. They never set the world alight in any game despite winning them. That needs unlocking.

A review of the panel needs to take place. You need to be able to look behind you and without hesitation see five or six players that can come in and do a job for you.

There is also an All-Ireland in the Cork intermediate side. We could have won it last year, a few adjustments and maybe we would have, but we can be stronger next year if the right players are brought in.

There were a few players who put their hands up during the club championship. Unless they’re dynamic altogether, I don’t agree with them making the leap to the senior panel, only to sit on the bench. 

The stepping stone is the intermediate side and that’s been proven in Galway many times.

I hope some of these players when asked to wear the Cork jersey, will do so. Not everyone wants to play for Cork. It’s a big commitment and they’re happy to just play with their club. But they should, if nothing else give it a go, particularly at intermediate level.

RADAR

The All-Ireland-winning minor team also had some great players. Don’t ruin them by propelling them onto the senior scene. Don’t let them fall off the radar either.

Derry, the 2022 favourites, remain at intermediate level next year after Cork beat them. Offaly have joined them after senior relegation and if they regroup, they’ll be a big challenge.

On the club scene, we had some enthralling games from the quarter-final stages. We had some tight games too in the groups, but things really livened up as you’d expect when it became knockout. Seandún, Sarsfields, Inniscarra, and St Finbarr’s were our semi-finalists.

Seandún and the Barrs, apart from the tension over the hour, you couldn’t say it was a good spectacle. Inniscarra and Sars was more open, but it was the final that really stood head and shoulders above the rest with a top-quality fast-paced game.

Back-to-back county titles for Seandún, a Munster semi-final for Sars where a very young team were close to getting over the line. Who to pick for 2023? That’s the question!