Cork camogie boss Matthew Twomey on the pressure of facing champions Galway 

CORK get their Glen Dimplex Senior All-Ireland championship campaign underway tomorrow at Kenny Park, Athenry, throw-in 5pm.

They are on the road as they take on Galway in their opening tie against one of the favourites to lift the O’Duffy Cup later on in the year.

Of course, the Rebels are amongst the favourites as well for overall honours and they will be aiming to lay down a marker against a side they have found difficult to beat in recent years.

Over the last few seasons, they have lost out to Galway in both an All-Ireland decider and more recently in the league final. That’s a record they will be looking to change, starting tomorrow.

Since that league final loss, it has not been a good few weeks for Cork as they lost out to Waterford in the first round of the Munster championship, a result that surprised many. So it has been a month since their last competitive match and a chance for manager Matthew Twomey to work with the players and get them right for tomorrow.

He admitted that they couldn’t have asked for a much tougher start to their All-Ireland campaign, but also they were looking forward to the challenge.

“It’s going to be a huge challenge for us, they are the best team in the country at the moment on paper and on form, so we are totally up against it tomorrow,” said Matthew. “But are after a good block of four weeks training and I suppose the best way of finding out where you are at is to play the best team in the championship.”

Reflecting on their league final loss to Galway he said that you can’t be going up there looking for revenge and you just have to park that, whilst learning from the mistakes you made on the day.

“The biggest problem with the league final was our conversion rate, we had more chances than Galway but we didn’t take them. 

"So that has been a bit of a bugbear with us, but regarding revenge, if you are going up there for that you are in trouble.

“We are looking for a big performance from the players, that’s the key thing out of it. Conditions are perfect for them, a Saturday evening in Athenry so we are under pressure so it’s important we get that performance and see where we are at with our backs against the wall.”

Reflecting on Cork’s poor record against Galway in recent years Matthew added: “Our record is not great and I don’t think Cork have beaten them since 2017 in competitive matches so that’s a fair indication of where the two counties are at.

“Big changes from the past and they have quality all over the field and even when you are trying to do match-ups you look at one and then another and it’s a star-studded team.

“And even since we played them in the league final they have a few more players back on the panel, the two McGraths and Sarah Dervan so that will improve their team further than the league final.”

SHOCK

Since that league final loss, they were defeated by Waterford in the Munster championship, a surprise result.

“If it had been season-ending and we were out of everything it would have been worse than what it was. 

As a group, we weren’t happy with ourselves after that game.

“We just didn’t turn up on the day and we had a big conversation on the Tuesday night after it in training and laid everything out on the table. We said this is what we have to do to get to the level we need to be at. We got a response from the players to be fair to them and they have worked very hard since and this is the exact moment we want now to see where we are at.”

Luck hasn’t been on Cork’s side this year with stars like Ashling Thompson still out, along with others. “We will have to do a few fitness tests before the game and have a few dodgy ones. We have been unlucky, Katrina Mackey has played 20 minutes all year, Pamela Mackey is injured again and Orla Cronin is struggling as well and there are others.

“But every player on the panel has qualities and we have a strong squad and they have to step up now on Saturday,” concluded Matthew.

Following on from the Galway clash they are at home to Down on Saturday, June 17 before they are on the road again on Saturday, July 1 to Clare.