Cork ladies footballers must reset but minor and U20s showed young talent is there

It was a busy weekend for Cork ladies football sides over the weekend, with some impressive displays and wins.

Their U14s qualified for the All-Ireland semi-final and the U20 side won their opening game in their bid for All-Ireland glory.

The U20s got the better of Dublin by 1-6 to 0-7 in their first round-robin game in this inaugural competition, brought in to bridge the gap from minor to senior.

The Senior B side had a 2-8 to 1-10 away win over a fancied Clare side and are looking good to reach the Munster final, with their final group game against Limerick next weekend.

The minors retained their Munster title, with an impressive victory over Clare by 4-11 to 1-6. They are the current All-Ireland champions as well and will be hoping to put back-to-back titles together there as well.

All those victories came on Saturday, and Cork would have been hoping to round off the weekend with a win over Kerry on Sunday at Senior A level.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be as Cork were well beaten by the Kingdom, losing out by 1-16 to 0-8.

It was a disappointing loss for Cork, particularly their second half showing.

Having played against the wind in the first half they were only two points down at the break and were in a strong position to drive on.

But full credit to Kerry they came out fighting after half time and proved much too strong for the Rebels.

Manager Joe Carroll was disappointed with that half and put it down to a number of factors.

“I think that the difficulty was getting our hands on the ball. We just couldn't get our hands on the ball,” said Carroll.

When we did get our hands on the ball, we got turned over far too easily. Our movement, maybe our defence wasn't as good as we'd expected it to be.

“But look, that's what it is. Kerry were exceptionally good in the second half. That was probably Kerry's best performance I've seen all year.

“I would have seen them during the league, and I thought they were a bit off it, and I couldn't see him winning an All-Ireland.

“But going on that performance, I think they have a great chance and I think Kerry will have a chance of beating Waterford in the Munster final, so it's going to be very close.”

UNBALANCED

Looking ahead to the All-Ireland series where Cork will face either Kerry or Waterford again in the group stages, along with the Ulster champions, Carroll was critical of the current seeding system.

“I think the seedings are a bit lopsided, because in Munster now it’s like an All-Ireland. Tipperary have upped their level, along with Cork, Kerry and Waterford.

“We've upped our level from last year, and Kerry and Watford were contenders for the All-Ireland last year. Now you have four teams in Munster, whereas you have a lot less in other provinces.

“Maybe the LGFA need to look at that in some way so that some of the teams aren't playing each other too frequently and things like that.”