Waterford prepared for tough opener against Cork in ladies football championship

The Munster Senior Ladies Football Championship starts on Saturday, April 20, and Cork begin their title defence against Waterford.

The Deise are at home and will go into the game as favourites against a Cork side who have had a poor season.

But at the launch last week Waterford couldn’t afford to think about the Cork game as they had a vital league tie against Galway to play first.

And their confidence will be boosted even further as they got the better of Galway to retain their Division 1 status and send the Tribeswomen down along with Cork.

But no matter what the result Waterford manager, Pat Sullivan, said the game was a great way to go into the championship, having such a tough opponent just two weeks before they faced Cork.

“Yeah, it’s a good game to get before the championship. We should have the league finished last week but the Galway game was refixed due to the weather,” said Pat.

“Facing Galway was always going to be a massive game and it’s better than trying to get a good challenge one leading into the championship.

“But from a Waterford view point, there’s been massive effort put in over the last couple of years.

“We’ve run teams like Cork and Kerry very close in the Munster championship in the last few years and hopefully this year can better that.

“At the moment I hear certain teams talking about transition and different things but we’ve been transitioning since 2015 and have lost probably seven or eight players from the panel, and four were actually on the starting team last year.

“But we’re still there, battling with the best and developing with every game we play. The league is one thing and we wanted to stay in Division One like everybody else.

“However the league is important to look to the championship and everything for us revolves around April 20. That’s what we’ve been looking forward to all year.

“Cork have been the kingpins of Munster now for a long time and I don’t think we have won the title since 2002.

“I think Cork have won the title every year since 2017. Some games have been very close, but we haven’t been close to them in the championship since 2017.

“We beat them in the league but you wouldn’t always be depending on where you are. You could be in a heavy training block, and you might be going into that league game a bit fresher than your opponent.

“We got a good start that day and lots of things went well for us, so that game will have no bearing whatsoever the next day.”

Pat also said that where you finish in the Munster championship is vital as the higher you finish the higher your seeding for the All-Ireland series.

“You would be hoping to get to the final and winning it, but the seeding for the All-Ireland series is important too.

“The better you do the better your chances of doing well in that championship. For instance, in Connacht as it’s a straight final they are seeded high already, but in Munster with four strong teams, it’s different.

“So getting to the final puts you in a far stronger position for the All-Ireland round-robin games and a great chance of at least a quarter-final spot.

“So we will be looking to get off to a good start against Cork, but know it’s not going to be easy,” concluded Pat.