Cork close in on All-Ireland camogie semi-final spot as they host Waterford

Cork go into their final game of the round-robin stage of the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Camogie Championship in the strongest place they have been all season.

The league and Munster championship are now well behind them, and so is their performances in both. Now they are back to somewhere near their best as they are starting to string a run of results together.

Sunday sees them home to Waterford in their final group game, at 3.30pm, at Páirc Ui Rinn, in what will be another tough tie.

Cork can go into it full of confidence after two tough away games against Galway and Tipperary. The Tribeswomen are the current All-Ireland and league champions so, beating them at Athenry is never easy.

The Rebels were deserving winners on the day, and that set them up for their clash at FBD Semple Stadium with Tipp.

Another good win on the road for Cork, and if they can follow it up with a win or a draw on Sunday, they will go straight to the All-Ireland semi-final and avoid the quarter-finals.

Waterford beat Tipp in their first game, before losing to Galway in their second outing.

Galway take on Tipp on Sunday, at the same time, and a win here for the former should also be enough to see them into the semi-finals, provided Cork do the business against Waterford.

Cork are currently on six points, with both Waterford and Galway on three, and Tipp have yet to get off the mark.

So, in simplest terms, wins for Cork and Galway would see them go to the semis. Draws in both games would also suit the Rebels and Tribeswomen, but neither will be thinking that way.

Tipp and Waterford would then go through to the quarter-finals, where they are most likely to face Kilkenny and Clare.

DOMINANT

The Rebels won’t think about any of them as they face a Waterford side that beat them in the league earlier in the season by 1-12 to 0-9.

The Deise’s manager, Michael Boland, won’t be paying too much attention to that result as he will be aware Cork are in a far better position now. They will travel to Cork knowing that a win would put them into the semi-final, so they won’t be there just to make up the numbers.

They have plenty of talented players in their side and are more than capable of winning this one.

Vikki Falconer, Abbie Flynn, Bevan Bowdren, and Beth Carton are just some of the players Boland can call on, with the latter the leader of their attack. Niamh Rockett, another quality player, was ruled out of their clash with Galway, but is expected to return to their starting line-up on Sunday.

The Rebels' two main injury concerns are Meabh Cahalane and Ashling Thompson. Neither featured in their recent wins.

Thompson picked up a serious elbow injury in Cork’s league clash with Kilkenny, and Cahalane got injured in a training session.

It will be a late call to see if either will play any part in this tie, but with a quarter-final slot at the very least secured, manager Ger Manley may not risk them.

He still has an array of talented players at his disposal, and Cork can go into this game confident of getting the job done.

Meabh Murphy has been outstanding since moving to centre-back, allowing Laura Hayes to go to midfield.

Aislinn Egan has slotted in at corner-back, with Ava Fitzgerald and Isobel Sheehan also coming in, and they can’t be faulted for their displays.

The return to full fitness of Amy O’Connor and Saoirse McCarthy has helped the Cork attack, and Manley will be hoping that Clodagh Finn will be available as well shortly.

So even if Cahalane and Thompson don’t make it, Manley has plenty of talent to choose from, and Cork will be expected to advance to the semi-final.