Cork camogie team on a roll but Tipp will test them

Will the Cork camogie team start off what could be a weekend of celebrations for the women's teams in red?

They travel to Tipperary tomorrow, throw-in 2pm at The Ragg, in the Very Division 1A League as they bid to keep their winning run going.

A win here will secure their spot in the league final with a game to spare. However, all will not be lost if they lose as mathematically they could still qualify if they beat Galway the following weekend.

A similar fate awaits for the ladies footballers on Sunday but camogie manager Ger Manley will only be concerned about his side as they face their toughest challenge of the season.

Tipp are the defending league champions so this will be a battle from start to finish and they will be looking to lay down a marker against the All-Ireland and Munster champions.

Tipperary got the better of Galway in their last game, their win made all the better as the Tribeswomen were at home.

Galway gave Cork a ferocious battle in the All-Ireland final last year so the significance of this win for Tipp won’t be lost on Manley and his squad.

Tipp won by 2-14 to 1-13, with 23 of the game’s 30 scores coming in the opening half.

RUTHLESS

Niamh Mallon and Caoimhe Kelly were in sharp form for the home side, who led by three points on a handful of occasions, but Grace O’Brien was ruthless from play and from frees, adding a first-half stoppage time goal to her seven first-half points to make it 1-11 to 0-11 at the interval.

The Tipp half-back trio of Mairéad Eviston, Caoimhe McCarthy and Sarah Corcoran were simply superb after half-time, with Casey Hennessy also getting through a mountain of work in the middle third. That platform allowed Tipp to starve the Galway forwards of possession.

With nearly 25 minutes gone in the second half, just two Tipperary points and a Galway goal from Mairéad Dillon had been added to the scoreboard, but once Clodagh McIntyre hit the net for the visitors, the result was inevitable.

These are just some of the players Cork will need to keep a close eye on tomorrow and there should be some battle between Eviston, McCarthy and Corcoran with the likes of Saoirse McCarthy and whoever else Manley employs in the half-forward line.

Hennessy is likely to face Ashling Thompson at midfield and whoever wins this battle could have a huge say in the final result.

Cork’s recent win over Dublin will stand to them in this encounter as The Ragg is not the biggest pitch there is. The same could be said of the venue in Dublin so Cork will have learned from that encounter and will be well prepared for this tough encounter.

Manley said they know this will be another battle and he would expect nothing less from Tipp. He also confirmed that most of the squad, bar long-term injuries, are now more or less back in contention for inclusion in the matchday squad.

Cliona Healy is still a few weeks away, but others like Amy O’Connor and Libby Coppinger are now back in contention for starting spots.

Cork have also brought in sports performance coach, Tim Marron, to the backroom team and he will add another dimension to an already impressive setup.

It will be another difficult outing for Cork and as well as the aforementioned they will also look to others like Sorcha McCartan, Meabh Cahalane, Laura Treacy, Laura Hayes and Orlaith Cahalane, to name a few, to get the better of the title holders and reach the final.