Emma Cleary: Cork will have to give it everything against familiar foe Galway in league final

Next Saturday, the Cork ladies footballers head to the TUS Gaelic Grounds for the Lidl Ladies Division 1 National League final against Galway.

Throw-in is at 5pm on Saturday, April 11, in a rematch from last spring. Last year, the same two sides met in the Division 2 decider; Galway won, pulling away from the Rebels in the second half.

In their league clash this season, Cork won a close game and expect another tight affair in a week.

Emma Cleary will have the honour of leading out the Rebels for the final and she has certainly played a captain’s part so far this season. 

Not too many outside either set-up would have predicted they would be in the decider.

“I suppose it is funny enough that it's ourselves and Galway in the final,” said Emma.

When you get up into Division 1, firstly the main aim is to just stay up there and to get out of that relegation battle.

“We kept building game on game and look we're in a league final now and we're really looking forward to it.”

Cork started with a home draw against Kildare, the only points they dropped until their final game against Dublin, one that didn’t matter to the Rebels.

Emma feels the draw against Kildare was one that galvanised the side and it also gave some of the new players a chance to see the difference between the tiers.

“I think so, we saw that first day against Kildare how big the step up from Division 2 to Division 1 is. They had a season of Division 1 football under their belts from last year and we really saw that the first day out.

“But as I have said before that point we got that day against Kildare was vital to us going forward. It kept us above a lot of other teams throughout the league, and they've gotten some good results in the last few league games as well.

“They're a great team as well. I think it was a positive start for us to get something out of that game.”

BLOCKING OUT THE NOISE

Many associated with ladies football predicted Cork to be one of the sides that would be in a battle to avoid relegation. Emma is not worried about proving them wrong.

“I think that probably there was a bit of a narrative out there that we were one of the favourites to go back down, but we were only in Division Two for a year.

A lot of us have played Division 1 football our whole careers and stuff, so we didn't kind of read too much into that.

“But as I said, when you get back up to Division 1, your main aim is to stay there and to make sure you're playing Division 1 football the following year.

“So, we didn't read too much into that and we're happy with how it went.”

Looking ahead to the league final and a side they are all too familiar with, Emma is expecting another battle at the TUS Gaelic Grounds, and hoping for a bit of revenge for last year’s loss to Galway in the Division 2 decider.

“We've played them a good bit down through the years in just group stages of the championship, the league, and then we had them in the All-Ireland semi-final a couple of years ago.

“We know what they're like, we know what they'll bring, but we were disappointed with our second-half display last year in the Division 2 final. So, we'll go out and we'll give it everything next Saturday.

“Generally, games between us and Galway are close.

Just looking at games from the last few years with them. That year we played them in the All-Ireland semi-final and they beat us. 

"We had beaten them in the group stages in Cork and then last year we were close with them above in Tuam as well.

“And then as I said last year, the Division 2 final was probably a game of two halves. You never know how it will pan out, but look, we're really looking forward to it.”