Cork must avoid defeat in Galway to remain in contention for league honours

WIN and they are back in contention, lose and they are out. 

It’s as simple as that for the Cork ladies footballers as they travel to Pearse Stadium to take on Galway in the Lidl NFL on Sunday, throw-in 2pm.

A win for Shane Ronayne’s side will put them on seven points, with four games played and they would draw level with their hosts in this crucial game.

They will also be hoping that Dublin get the better of Kerry on Saturday evening, which means that there would only be a two-point difference between Cork, Galway, and the two aforementioned sides.

A win for the Dubs would see them go level at the top of the table with Kerry on nine points, but with Cork still having to play their near-neighbours it would all be to play for again from a Rebel viewpoint.

Should they lose then their chances of qualifying for the league final will be gone, bar a series of freak results, so there is a lot at stake on Sunday.

CONFIDENT

It will be far from easy but Cork can travel confident in their own ability, especially if they play as they did for 45 minutes against Dublin in their last game.

For the first 15 and all of the second half, Cork were by far the better side, but the second 15 minutes of the first half cost them dearly.

You could probably break it down even further and say it was two spells of three-four minutes really that cost and in that time they gave away four goals to give Dublin a lead they really didn’t deserve.

By the break, it looked like it could turn into damage limitation as Cork trailed by 4-8 to 0-10, after that disastrous spell.

But once the ball was thrown in after the break the Rebels took over and got themselves back on level terms, with the likes of Libby Coppinger, Emma Cleary, Aoife Healy, Sarah Leahy and Hannah Looney leading by example.

And they will need to repeat that second-half performance for the 60 minutes if they are to have any chance of beating Galway, who have had an impressive start to the season.

They defeated Donegal and Dublin in their opening games before drawing with the league champions, Meath, in their last outing so they will be going into this game with confidence high.

Just like Cork they will be well aware that a win for them will knock out a formidable opponent and potentially put themselves back on top of the table, again depending on the result of the Kerry v Dublin tie tomorrow evening.

Cork have to contend with the dual-player issue this weekend as the camogie side are in action tomorrow against Dublin and Ronayne has confirmed that Coppinger, Healy, and Looney will not feature against Galway as they are all due to play in that game.

That means he will be losing two key players from his half-back line and Coppinger from attack, with all three having played key roles in the campaign so far.

But it will give a chance to other players to impress and with the likes of Roisin Phelan and Maire O’Callaghan back in action they will help compensate for the missing trio.

Others Cork need big games from include the likes of Erika O’Shea, Daire and Eimear Kiely, and Emma Cleary, all have played their parts in the three games to date.

Add in Sarah and Rachel Leahy and Cork have the panel capable of travelling in confidence and if they play as they did in the second half against Dublin the journey home could be a happy one.