Sarah Leahy ready for another bruising Cork and Kerry collision

It's the battle of the arch-rivals on Sunday in the TG4 Munster ladies football final at Mallow.

Cork will face Kerry in the decider at 3.30pm and one of the key players for the Rebels will be Sarah Leahy.

The Aghada star had captained Cork on a number of occasions this year and is looking forward to what she knows will be another tough challenge against Kerry on Sunday.

Whether Sarah lines out at midfield or in the forward line doesn't matter as she is one of the players that Kerry will be keeping a close eye on as they know how crucial she is to Cork.

Speaking ahead of the final Sarah said: "It's going to be a really tough game, Kerry are brilliant and have been fantastic all year. They have so many serious players around the pitch so we can't go into the final with any sense of complacency.

"We have prepared knowing we are going into a really tough game so fingers crossed it goes our way."

UNDERDOGS

Despite the fact Cork are the current champions Sarah feels, like many others, that they will be considered underdogs on Sunday.

"They won the league recently and were in the All-Ireland final last year so we are probably going in as underdogs, but we are happy to go in that way. We can plan, prepare and work as hard as we can in advance and then hopefully will play our best possible game on Sunday."

In their recent round-robin clash in the Munster championship, Cork looked dead and buried but fought back for a deserved draw, Sarah feels they can take a lot from that encounter.

"The first half was a tough one for us and they were brilliant and they kind of let us back into it in the second half which we know they won't do in the final.

We can't let ourselves slip and fall again like we did in that match. 

"We did show our spirit and determination in that game and also the strength of our panel, which is really important. The subs made a huge difference and we take a lot from that finish."

This year Sarah's sister Rachel has been a key player but unfortunately picked up an injury that has ruled her out until at least this time next year.

"We are gutted for her and she is of course gutted Herself. An older brother did his cruciate three times so, as a family, we have experience with this injury.

"She does have the Leaving Cert to distract her from the injury ahead of her operation in July. For me personally, it was great to have her playing and she was going very well so she is a loss.

"But for us now it's all about Sunday and preparing for that and hopefully putting in a top performance and to try and get over the line," concluded Sarah.