Cork v Armagh: Ladies footballers aim to make it two wins on the bounce

CORK ladies footballers will be looking to make it two from two in the Lidl NFL on Sunday.

The Rebels host Armagh at Páirc Ui Rinn, throw-in 1pm, for what will be another tough game for the home side.

Last Sunday, Storm Isha didn’t stop Galway from making the trip to Leeside for their opening tie and credit must go to both teams who played on regardless of the conditions.

Both must also be applauded for their displays on a day when the driving rain and wind were far from ideal to be playing football.

Galway certainly can’t be faulted for their efforts but they came up against a Cork side that were determined to take the points and drive on to next Sunday.

A second win will put them in a good spot before they head to Tralee to face the Kingdom in their third game, which will be a step up from these two ties.

There will be many aspects of their win over Galway that will have pleased Cork manager Shane Ronayne.

LETHAL

Bride Rovers sharpshooter, Katie Quirke, grabbed the headlines with a sublime 1-6 as she got all of Cork’s scores on the day.

An outstanding achievement by Katie, who will be one of the players Cork will look to this season with a number of their regular starters not available at the moment.

But what impressed Ronayne more than Katie’s scoring was her determination to win the ball back first, which then led to her raising a green flag.

That work-rate and commitment was evident all over the pitch and in a second half where they played against the elements it was vital.

Plenty of others impressed in attack for Cork, with the driving runs of Ellie Jack and Sadhbh O’Leary causing difficulties for Galway.

Inside them, Hannah Looney worked hard all through and Lydia McDonagh impressed on her league debut. Emma Cleary put in another great shift, dropping out from corner-forward to play a pivotal role around the middle of the pitch.

She does an awful lot of the unseen work for the Cork side covering back and she will need to repeat this performance to have any chance against Armagh.

Defensively Cork were rock solid with Libby Coppinger slotting in at full-back and alongside her Dara Kiniry and Melissa Duggan didn’t put a foot wrong.

With the likes of Kelly Mallon and Aimee Mackin in the Armagh attack, they will be under even more pressure on Sunday but, are more than capable of holding their own.

Niamh Coleman, Louise Kenny, and Lauren McConville are just some of the other players that will need watching.

With such talent available to Armagh the midfield pairing of Aoife Healy and Shauna Cronin, if selected, will need to be at their best.

This new midfield paring fared well against Galway but will know that Sunday is another step up for them. But there are plenty of reasons for Cork to be confident going into the game and they will have learned a lot from the Galway tie

Cork captain Maire O’Callaghan showed why she has the armband and controlled the game from centre-back with Amy McDonagh and Daire Kiely on either side of her impressing as well.

But there is still plenty of work for Cork to do and games are going to get tougher by the week so taking the points on Sunday will set them up nicely for the rest of the league.