Cork get All-Ireland ladies football campaign underway against Kerry 

Cork beging their TG4 All-Ireland senior ladies football campaign on Saturday afternoon at SuperValu Páirc Ui Chaoimh.

The Rebels take on Kerry at 2.30pm as they bid to overcome their arch-rivals for the first time in several years. Cork had the upper hand for many years but that changed last year when the Kingdom beat them in the round-robin stage of the Munster championship.

They then went on to beat Cork again in the final and repeated that feat in the Munster championship again this year.

Kerry are the current title-holders and got the defence of their title off to a winning start against Mayo last weekend, winning by 0-13 to 1-4. They will be firm favourites to make it two from two tomorrow and guarantee their spot in the knock-out stages.

They are the team to beat at the moment and it’s going to take a very good side to stop them retaining their title. They will have benefited from their recent tough Munster final against Waterford, as well as this encounter with Mayo.

Cork haven’t had a competitive game in five weeks so not ideal preparation for taking on Kerry. But it will have given manager Joe Carroll and his coaches an opportunity to work on their game plan and also allow a few others return from injury.

They will need them all to have any chance of winning against what is probably the top side in ladies football now for the last number of years.

Cork captain Sarah Leahy has been out for some time but Carroll confirmed she is now back and available for selection tomorrow. A bonus to see her return, especially with Erika O’Shea now back in Australia to resume playing Aussie rules football.

EXEPRIENCE

Leahy will add all her experience to the defence, which will have a busy afternoon as they try to keep the likes of Danielle O’Leary, Siofra O’Shea and Kate Brosnan quiet. The introduction of O’Leary against Mayo at half-time was key to Kerry’s win over Mayo, and it would be a major surprise not to see her start tomorrow.

Carroll said they are expecting a tough battle against the pacesetters for some time now.

“Kerry have been the team to beat for the last couple of seasons so we know what we are facing into tomorrow,” said Carroll.

They have quality players all over the pitch and we will have to be at our best to have any chance of getting the better of them.

“But we have been working hard in training over the last few weeks and it’s great that we have a few players back from injury as well.

“We have two difficult games in two weeks but we are concentrating on Kerry for now and will then look at Mayo once we get over this one.”

As well as Leahy, Emma Cleary is also available for selection, and others Cork will look to include the likes of Shauna Kelly, Melissa Duggan, Abbie O’Mahony and Katie Quirke.

Libby Coppinger is back in training but is unlikely to feature tomorrow in what is a tough ask for Cork.