By Kevin Egan, at UPMC Nowlan Park
Exactly five weeks after Cork put Dublin to the sword at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in the round robin stages of this year’s Glen Dimplex All-Ireland senior championship, the All-Ireland champions once again had over 20 points to spare in a battle with the Dubs – but both sides acknowledged after the game that Dublin’s failure to convert two glorious goal chances in the first half had a huge bearing on the flow of the game.
Exactly five weeks after Cork put Dublin to the sword at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in the round robin stages of this year’s Glen Dimplex All-Ireland senior championship, the All-Ireland champions once again had over 20 points to spare in a battle with the Dubs – but both sides acknowledged after the game that Dublin’s failure to convert two glorious goal chances in the first half had a huge bearing on the flow of the game.
“Semi-finals are there to be won really and I thought Dublin improved a lot in the quarter-final from when we played them” said Cork manager Ger Manley afterwards.
“I suppose if Dublin got those two goals in the first half, it would’ve been a closer game” he said, referring to Aisling Maher’s penalty that was saved by Amy Lee, and Elyse Jamieson-Murphy’s 10-metre strike that Lee parried clear.
“We got our chances, we took them. They were unlucky in a few chances, but I thought we got on top after the second goal chance, and I think after that there was only one winner”.
A rueful Bill McCormack, coach of the Dublin team, could only agree.
“The scoreline tells the right story, we missed I think 2-5 in the first half – chances we should’ve put away. Cork didn’t hit a wide in the first half and ultimately that’s where the gap became noticeable and they just pushed on there.
“They’re not All-Ireland champions for no reason, they absolutely showed their class. I suppose our girls take pride in what was a great year for Dublin camogie and we need to keep stepping in the right direction and close that gap to the top team, which is Cork at the minute.”
Dublin’s Aisling Maher and Méabh Murphy of Cork (Photos: INPHO/Bryan Keane)
Dublin’s emergence as a force has been a welcome evolution in recent years, and McCormack believes that targeting physical development will help bring the capital up to the next level.
“You can see their level of physicality” he said. “We matched them for periods, but maybe that dropped off a bit so maybe we can go after a little bit more on the physicality side. Get a little bit fitter, a little bit stronger, especially the younger girls who are just arriving into the panel. There’s been some great underage work done in the last couple of years, so turning them girls into women, I suppose. It’s finding improvement every time you turn up training and close that gap; week-on-week, year-on-year.”
Saoirse McCarthy (main pic) was named Player of the Match after firing over two excellent first half points and then slotting home a goal with 38 minutes gone that crushed any faint, lingering hopes that Dublin might have entertained.
The wing-forward made it clear that underestimating their opponents was never on the cards.
“Obviously we had a comprehensive win down in the Páirc a couple of weeks ago, but we knew it was going to be a different Dublin team, especially after watching the Kilkenny game.
“We pride ourselves on the strength and depth of our panel and I think every year it’s growing and getting better and better, so the competition for places is huge. The next two weeks aren’t going to be any different” she observed, and Manley also highlighted his bench, which chipped in with 1-4 from play.
“You need competition and I suppose for us, the league is the league, but we hadn’t a game in four weeks. I thought we were a bit rusty at times, but hopefully we’ll get two weeks now to get it right.
“We’re lucky to have the subs – finishers, really – as you need it because the modern game’s gone so hard. The heat out there today, the physical camogie game has gone a bit harder as well. You won’t finish with 15 players that started, unless you’re very lucky. We’ll put players on, if you’re playing well we’ll still take you off to give somebody a game because you need the fresh legs.”
Manley also hinted at another possible contender for playing time in Croke Park against Galway.
“Hopefully we’ll have Méabh Cahalane. Libby Coppinger is out for the year unfortunately, she got a very bad injury there. We thought we might have her back, but hopefully we’ll have Méabh back in the running now in two weeks.”
