Emma Cleary to captain Cork ladies footballers as league gets underway with tough Kildare tie

Sunday will see the Cork ladies footballers get their Lidl National Football League campaign underway.

The Rebels are at home to Kildare, throw-in 2pm at MTU.

They are back in Division 1 this year, with manager Joe Carroll, leading them back to the top-flight after they were relegated in 2024.

But staying in the top-flight of the league won’t be easy, especially with the number of players that are not available to him this season.

Aoife Healy and Hannah Looney are heading to Australia to play Aussie rules, and Libby Coppinger has opted to play camogie only this season. However, for now at least, Aoife Healy has made herself available to play with Cork, which is great news for the Rebels.

On top of that Carroll, also confirmed that both Sarah Leahy and Shauna Cronin have stepped away from the panel this season.

Commentating on the loss of Leahy and Cronin Carroll said: “They're experienced players, the two of them have won county championship medals in the last few years. 

We just have to move on and hope other players will try and fill their boots, which is going to be a difficult job to try and fill very experienced players like them.”

So, before Carroll’s side kick a ball, they have lost five players that would have been considered starters on Sunday.

All are a massive loss to Cork, but on the plus side, Carroll has known for some time they won’t be around and has been working hard with the players available ahead of Sunday.

Experienced players like Maire O’Callaghan and Shauna Kelly are still around, as well as others like Emma Cleary and Melissa Duggan.

Maire and Shauna may not feature on Sunday as both were late returning to training for a number of reasons.

“They were a bit late coming back to training,” said Carroll. “Shauna is a bit further ahead than Maura because Maura didn't come back until the start of January.”

Also back after a year out is Rachel Leahy, who was playing superb football before she picked up an ACL injury, and she was a huge loss to Cork last year.

Cleary has been named Cork captain, and the Éire Óg star is never found wanting when it comes to playing for her county.

Carroll has added several players to his squad, including the likes of Rachel O’Regan from Carrigaline, Ciara Hughes and Ciara McCarthy, who has been another to suffer with injuries, is also back.

CRUCIAL

Naomh Aban’s Grace Murphy, who was outstanding in their Cork and Munster championship title wins, has also been added to the panel.

She captained the Cork B side last year, and her ball carrying and ability to read a game could prove crucial for Cork throughout the league campaign.

Looking ahead to Sunday’s game and their overall league campaign, Carroll said that staying in the top-flight is a priority, but knows that’s a difficult task.

“It's obviously a total priority to try and stay in the top flight. We're setting goals for the year and everything, but our main goal is to stay in there and see where it takes us after that.

Playing at a higher level, faster pace is huge for Cork ladies football, and it's going to benefit us greatly, hopefully for the championship coming up after that.

“We have four games at home and three away, which might be a small bit of a break, because having to travel long distances isn't the easiest to manage.

“But look, we start with a home game against Kildare, and we're not looking beyond that. They are a very good side and won’t be easy to beat.

“They played very well in the championship last year so we know that it’s a difficult opening game for us.”

Cork team to play Kildare: C Richmond; S Callanan, D Kiniry, K Horgan; M Duggan, S McGoldrick, R Corkery; A Healy, A O’Mahony; R Leahy, G Ní Mhurchú, E Cleary (capt.); E Hurley, K Quirke, L Hallihan.