Ladies Gaelic Football

ladiesgaelic.ie // 15 CORK'S YOUNG GUNS Volume 14 | Issue No 2 | PEIL Summer Marie Ambrose, Roisin Phelan, Shauna Kelly, Aine O'Sullivan, Orlagh Farmer, Ciara O'Sullivan, Doireann O'Sullivan and Orla Finn. Undoubtedly, a big focus was to win a 6 th Division 1 title in a row, but the opportunity to give players a taste of senior football before the pressure of a Munster or All-Ireland championship was probably a bigger focus for Ephie Fitzgerald and his backroom team. But Cork supporters and players alike have become accustomed to winning titles and that's how they measure their success, not by giving players game time. Not competing in a Munster Final for the first time in 14 years was a massive set- back for the group in 2017. It was the first time they really felt the absence of the likes of Corkery, Buckley, and O'Reilly. They came into the competition having won the Division 1 title and possibly gleaned a false sense of security from that win, when in reality, key leaders were lost all over the field and their performance in Munster showed they had a lot of work to do to fill the void. Failing to reach the Munster final last year put a lot of pressure on Cork to reach the 2018 decider. No more so then by themselves. The feeling in the camp coming into 2017 was that they had let themselves down badly in the provincial championship and had a point to prove this time around. Cork have never lost two consecutive Munster championships and in 2018, reigning provincial champions and old rivals Kerry stood in their way of maintaining this record. A poor opening half performance saw the Rebels behind by four points at the break, but they regrouped and blew Kerry away in the second half. For 13 of the panel, it was their first senior Munster medal. For the rest it was one of many, but perhaps the most important in their career to date in terms of confidence building. But a level of realism needs to be applied too, without any disrespect to Tipperary or Kerry, Cork will have much bigger fish to fry this summer. Dublin have set the standard, and if Cork are to be realistic All-Ireland contenders again they need to be compared against the best. At this moment in time are Cork better than Dublin? Probably not, but do they have the potential? Absolutely. They have a combination of talented young players who have yet to experience victory at senior level and a group of older players who know what it takes to reach the pinnacle. Will they reach it in 2018? It's unlikely just yet, but not impossible. The likes of Ciara O'Sullivan, Orla Finn and Martina O'Brien walked into a Cork setup where winning All-Irelands was the norm. They bought into a winning culture and worked to the high standards that their teammates had set before them. Now the rest of the country has risen to meet the standards that Cork football set over the last 14 years or so, making the championship more competitive than ever. It is now up to this new crop of players to break from the shackles of comparison to Cork legends of old and pave their own path to reach the pinnacle once again. Orla Finn Ciara Hughes

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