Cork star Emma Cleary keen to pass her tough tests on and off the pitch in the weeks ahead

BY SEÁN HOLLAND

AS we enter exam season all around the country, both the Cork ladies footballers and Emma Cleary are preparing for their biggest tests yet.

The 23-year-old trainee accountant is hitting the books and training fields with extra determination. With her FAE accountancy exams on the horizon, so too is the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Senior Football Championship.

Cork are in Group 3 alongside Galway and Laois and they will face the latter this Sunday, June 9th at O’Moore Park (3pm), before playing Galway at home the following weekend. The top two will progress to the All-Ireland quarter-finals.

Given Cork’s disappointing league campaign that saw the Rebels relegated from Division 1, there have been green shoots in the Munster championship as Cleary and Co qualified for the final, though eventually succumbing to Kerry. Still, Cork are in a better place now, having learned lessons from the league campaign.

‘It was an extremely tough start this year,’ Cleary said. ‘We had those six losses in a row, and that's tough going. But I think after the league we really had to put that to bed. We took a lot of learnings from it. We couldn't ignore it completely, but we just saw it as a new competition coming into the Munster championship.

‘To be fair, we really did put the head down for that bit of a block between the league and the Munster championship. We got a lot more football played, got through some hard training and we did reasonably well in the Munster championship, even though it wasn’t the best way end to it,’ she admitted.

Daughters Emma (left) and Laura Cleary with their father John and mother Helga after Cork beat Down in the All-Ireland U21 final in 2009. John Cleary was manager of the victorious Cork team.

Having joined the senior squad in 2019, Cleary learned from the veteran players in the squad who had countless achievements to their name. Having lost several high-profile and All-Ireland winning players due to retirements, travelling, and work commitments, the Cork squad has undergone quite a turnover this season.

‘When I joined the panel I would have played with the likes of the O’Sullivans (Ciara and Doireann) and Orla Finn. These are girls who I would have watched in Croke Park winning All-Ireland medals. They were huge losses,’ Cleary admitted.

‘It’s not even on matchday itself and having them on the team, but I think in terms of driving the standards at training, those girls had really, really high standards. The challenge for us this year is keeping those standards up. To be fair, the new girls that have come in are great trainers, but it's just about keeping those high standards that those girls would have had’.

Cleary has also had to learn quickly to become a leader and has now taken a more prominent role in the squad, taking from the learnings of those who have since moved on.

‘We've probably had to learn to lead a bit quicker,’ the Cork star said.

‘The likes of Laura O’Mahony and Sarah Leahy would be my age, we're nearly the oldest in the panel now, which is mad because we're still so young. There are still loads of leaders there, the likes of Melissa Duggan and Maria O’Callaghan who are still driving it all the time. But it is important for the likes of myself, Laura, and Sarah to be stepping up to that role as well and bringing the younger girls along with us.

‘If we can be any bit of help to the younger girls we try to show them the ropes. I know first-hand that it's not easy coming into a senior inter-county panel. It's fairly daunting, but you have to adapt quickly because once you're on a panel, then everyone from one to 30 has a chance of playing on matchday, as long as you're training hard enough and you're applying yourself,’ she explained.

Cleary has the unique advantage of having the ability to turn to her father, Cork football manager John, for some advice, even if at times she’s not looking for it!

‘He's always been a great help and he would have coached me a lot underage so he's always there for advice and we're always chatting about it. He'd give a bit too much advice sometimes, and sometimes, I don't want to hear it!’ Cleary joked.

Looking ahead to the All-Ireland championship, Cleary is keen to make an impression – and is keen to go all the way.

‘From the start of the year, we've seen it as three competitions with the league, the Munster championship, and the All-Ireland is the last competition for us now this year. We want to have a really good go at it,’ she said.

‘Our first aim is to get out of the group. In ladies’ football in the last number of years, you can see the gap being bridged between all the teams. Once you get into the knockout stage it takes on a life of its own and it’s anyone’s game then.’