ONE win doesn’t make it a good league for any side but it was a great start for the Cork ladies footballers last weekend against Mayo.

Tomorrow they are on the road again as they travel to take on Waterford in their second outing in the Lidl NFL.

Travelling up to Mayo last weekend not too many would have fancied their chances against a strong home side.

With only six of the starting line-up that lost to the same opposition and with a number of young players starting had they come away with a 2-3 point loss it would have been considered a good result.

But from the off, they took the game to Mayo and they will have to do the same tomorrow if they are to have any chance against Waterford.

The Rebels have made just one change to their starting line-up, with Katie Quirke coming in for Sarah Leahy, who picked up a knock against Mayo and had to be taken off at half-time.

Cork have had some battles with the Déise in recent times and it won’t be any different this time around but the Rebels are more than capable of making it two wins out of two. The game is scheduled for Piltown in Kilkenny, throw-in 2pm, and after last weekend’s encounter there against Kerry concerns were raised about the stage of the pitch.

Whilst no pitch is perfect at this time of year the grass looked very long and players were unable to bounce the ball, and one has to question if it’s suitable to be hosting an inter-county game at this time of year.

Home games are also supposed to be within the county so the question arises that if Waterford didn’t have a home venue, should they have had to travel to Cork?

In the game itself manager Shane Ronayne will be looking for more of the same from his side against Waterford and to their credit it was the younger players who stood up last weekend, helped by what are now senior stars, even if they aren’t in age.

Aoife Healy in defence and Abigail Ring in attack had outstanding games and showed enough that they are stars in the making.

Other young players like Dara Kinry and Rachel Leahy can also be very happy with their performances.

The welcome return of Erika O’Shea and the Kiely twins, Daire and Eimear, also boosted Cork and they will all be needed over the season.

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Emma Cleary, captain on the day, never lets you down and along with other experienced heads like Eimear Meaney and Hannah Looney, ensured they saw out the game against Mayo.

But they will all be well aware that Waterford poses a serious threat and the likes of Sheena McGuckian, Emma Murray, Aoibhe Waring, Kate McGrath and Lauren McGregor have players that can cause you problems.

But Cork should be too strong and add another win to their campaign before they face a tougher test when Dublin come to town on the bank holiday Monday.

For now, Ronayne will just be concentrating on tomorrow’s game and you can be sure that he will have Cork fired up to make it two from two to keep their winning start going.

CORK (v Waterford): 

M O’Sullivan; S Kelly, E Meaney, D Kiniry; A Healy, H Looney, M Duggan; R Leahy, E O’Shea; E Cleary, L Coppinger, D Kiely; K Quirke, E Kiely, A Ring.