Cork ladies overcome Clare

Inspirational play by captain Annie Walsh helped
Cork overcome Clare on Sunday 0-14 0-3, in the
second round of the Division 2 Suzuki National
League. The Banner couldn’t find a way to halt
the towering midfielder and suffered the consequences.

Playing with gale force winds in the opening half
Cork looked slightly lethargic and found scoring
opportunities hard to come by. Clare’s first team
looked extremely physical and gave away a large
proportion of frees in front of goal which free
taker Niamh hickey slotted easily over the bar.
Kildorrery’s Joanne Hennessy and Beara’s Vicky
Power excelled in defence and while playing with
the wind the home side trailed 0-3 0-7 at the
interval. With the wind against Cork many thought
Clare would make a comeback however great use
of the hand pass allowed Cork to execute some
flowing passages of play. Further points from
Triona Lucey and Niamh Hickey saw the Leesiders
slowly drift into a comfortable lead as Clare
struggled to move the ball forward. With 10 minutes
remaining a frustrated Tammy Hehir lashed out
on Annie Walsh and the referee had no choice but
to reduce Clare to 14 players.

Despite having the wind in the second half the
home side failed to come by scoring chances with
some immense pressure from the Cork defensive
unit. A total of five substitutions by the Leesiders
allowed new faces to show what they were made
of and they did exactly that with Siobhán and
Ruth Ann Buckley both impressing. Upfront Cork
continued to dominate with points from Elaine
Cotter and Emma Harrington and it was the Rebels
who were victorious. “It took us a while to get
into the swing of things and the gale force winds
didn’t help” “We discussed things at half time
and we knew what we had to do to get a win”, said
captain Annie Walsh. “Communication was key in
the second half and everyone did extremely well
because of that. We’re starting to come together
as a team and this win will give us confidence
needed to progress in the league”

Next weekend the juniors travel away to Cavan
who would be in the punters top two to take the
title this season but should Cork perform like
they did in the second they could easily cause
an upset.

CORK: O Murphy, J Hennessy, R Cogan, V
Power, AM Walsh, B Wiseman, T Galvin, E Cotter,
A Walsh (C), E Harrington, C O’Driscoll, T Lucey,
N Healy, N Hickey, S Power.
Subs: RA Buckley for N Healy (HT), E O’Connell
for S Power (41), C O’Sullivan for C O’Driscoll
(42), S Buckley for V Power (42), and M Rea for
T Galvin. (45).
Scorers for Cork: N Hickey 0-7 (0-5frees),
T Lucey 0-3, A Walsh, E Cotter, E Harrington,
N Healy 0-1 each.

O’CONNOR CUP DRAW
The draws for the Colleges O’Connor Cup took place
last week in Croke Park with UCC and CIT both
in contention. CIT will play Jordanstown before
February 25 and the winners of that will play
Sligo.UCC have the unfortunate task of playing
UCD, the winners of which will play the 2004 champions
UL. Elsewhere Tralee IT play NUI Galway and Waterford
are at home to NUI Maynooth. The finals take place
on the weekend of March 19/20.

LADIES FOOTBALL PR FORUM:
Cumann Peil Gael na mBan will hold a PR/Media
Training day in Croke Park on Thursday 24th February
from 11am – 2pm. The course is organised by Bill
O’Herlihy Communications and speakers include
Bill himself, Paul Collins (Today FM) and Alan
Milton (Irish Sun & Breaking Ball). Anyone interested
in attending contact Fiona on 01-8363156 or email
fiona@ladiesgaelic.ie.

FUNDRAISING TABLE QUIZ The Rockbán Ladies
Football team are holding a quiz on Friday 18
February in Quills Bar & Restaurant at 8.30pm
in order to raise funds for the club. All are
welcome.

DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
The Cork Ladies Football Development Committee
will meet next on Wednesday 23 February.