Cork City Women need to get a positive result from their trip to Sligo

Cork City Women will try and move off bottom of the Women’s Premier Division table by taking all three points from their meeting with Sligo Rovers this Saturday at The Showgrounds, kick-off 3pm.

The Rebel Army are currently keeping everyone else up following their 2-0 defeat to Shelbourne last weekend at Turner’s Cross, combined with the Bit O’Red defeating Waterford at the RSC.

This is a massive outing in terms of the run-in as there are just seven games left to play after this weekend, including four home games.

If City are to make of a success of this season, they need finish ahead of Sligo and league new-comers Waterford FC.

That’s the only marker given the club’s long history with the Women’s National League turned Premier Division, and their massive head start.

City have already defeated Sligo once this season and Craig Robinson, who is deputising as Head Coach in the absence of Frank Kelleher, wants a repeat of this on Saturday.

“We’ll target three points again next week,” he told The Echo.

“It’s important for us to realise that we need to do the hard stuff again. 

"We need to be disciplined, no matter if we are playing Shels or Sligo. 

"We still need to get that consistency and that discipline, and be hard to beat as well. Put our bodies on the line and work really hard this week.

“Quality wise, we got the quality there. So when we do have the ball it is about making those right decisions and [against Shelbourne] they did make the right decisions, that little luck just did not come. 

"It’s important going up to Sligo that we do the hard stuff and put away the chances when we do have them.” 

The Rebel Army will prepare for the Sligo game and the run-in with a refreshed squad that has seen seven new additions this summer.

Three featured last week against Shelbourne - Aine Walsh on the left wing, Aoife Cronin in midfield, and former Cork LGFA star Sadbh McGoldrick in defence.

The code breaker was brought in from Lakewood Athletic in the CWSSL after making her name known last year by scoring the match-winning point in the Munster LGFA semi-final against Tipperary.

This kind of thing is normal women’s soccer, with Lauren Homan a two-time All-Ireland winner and an important part of Cork City this season under Kelleher and Robinson. 

The same goes for Amy O’Connor, who chose the small ball after previously playing underage football with the Republic of Ireland.

The Rebel Army have found a source of senior players by crossing the divide this season, even if it is just two new names, but this has proven useful in bridging the gap for Kelleher and Robinson as they manage the development of a number of teenagers coming through from squads in the underage national leagues.

This could help build a solid foundation during the run-in, and give hope that 2026 will be a more successful year at Turner’s Cross.