Cork U14s hope to overturn defeat to Galway in All-Ireland ladies football final

Cork take on Galway in the U14 All-Ireland ladies football final at Éire Óg GAA Club, Nenagh, throw-in 3.30pm.

They will be aiming to win their first title at this age group since 2019, having lost two finals since to Kerry and Mayo. To do so they will have to beat a Galway side that are one of only two teams to beat them all season.

Clare defeated Cork in the Munster round-robin series, but when it mattered in the final the Rebels came out on top by 1-10 to 1-6. So they will be hoping to overturn their All-Ireland round-robin loss to Galway, by 3-5 to 2-4, in the final on Sunday.

It won’t be easy as Galway are a good side, but Cork manager Ioannis O’Connell said it won’t be for lack of effort if they don’t win.

“It's great they're a great bunch. You know, they're full of energy, great personalities throughout the panel, and any hurdle we put in front of them throughout the year they've jumped over,” said O’Connell.

“It's great, they're really excited and looking forward to it, to be fair.”

Managing an U14 side is not an easy task as it’s their first case of inter-county action and trying to pick a squad is a difficult job.

“It isn't easy, but thankfully before we started the trials, there was the Player Development Programme in each division. So they had their own panels of players picked. So we worked off those panels.

GREAT ATTITUDE

“They were the best of each division. I think we had about 135 come for trials and all came with great attitude, the talent in Cork throughout the divisions is really good.

“I can't speak highly enough of the divisions and the work they're doing and the clubs of course, because that's where it all starts.

“It wasn’t easy to whittle down the panel, but we're lucky that there was a B team this year that John Fitzgerald was looking after, and they won their Munster championship back in March.

So that way 60 or so girls got to represent Cork and they are some really good players there and the girls that we've picked have risen to the challenge.”

Looking to the match itself Cork will face one of only two sides who beat them all year and know what they’re up against tomorrow.

“They’re a fantastic side, and we have great respect for them. They won the U14 Platinum championship last year and we played them in a challenge game in March and we played them in the All-Ireland series as well at the start of May,” added O’Connell.

“They have some fabulous footballers but we won't forget that we have a very good side as well. We're the Munster champions. We didn't win that by fluke and we've had two tough games to get to the final, so we will be going in there with confidence, but we will also respect Galway.

“It’s going to be a great day for these young players and hopefully we can come out on the right side of the result.”