BY DARAGH Ó CONCHÚIR
GER Manley wants his side to find their ruthless streak after Cork missed out on a place in the Very League Division 1A final.
The Rebels lost away to reigning league champions Galway by 0-14 to 0-9 at Duggan Park on Saturday. The Tribeswomen set up a final showdown with Tipperary who will end a 15-year wait to appear in a national senior final when they line out in the Division 1A decider at Croke Park on April 14th.
Cork will have to watch on, having missed their chance to advance to the league final, with Manley pointing to missed chances in their loss to Galway.
Cork manager Ger Manley.
‘Defensively I thought we were very strong, but we seem to be struggling for scores at the moment,’ the Cork boss said.
‘Our defence played well, they were solid, but our transition at times from midfield to our half-forward line wasn’t great at times, that’s where we got a bit caught out. You saw when Amy O’Connor got the ball, she did well. Galway kept the scoreboard ticking over and that’s the trick to winning tight matches.
‘Scoring nine points won’t win you a match, we need to go back and look at it.’
The Rebels are not back in action until the Munster championship later this month and Manley will target an improvement in Cork’ scoring rate, as the All-Ireland champions prepare for the crunch part of the season.
The Cork boss says he side needs to hit around 1-14 per game to stand a chance of winning, and a look through their campaign shows the Rebels totted up 1-17, 1-6, 1-10, 1-15 and 0-9 for an average of 0-14 per match. A better attacking return is needed, Manley insists.
Losses to Tipperary meant that both Galway and Cork were essentially in a winner-takes-all clash, although a draw would have been sufficient for the home team. In the end, apart from conceding the first score from a free to Amy O’Connor, who finished with five points, the Maroons held the upper hand.
Carrie Dolan punished indiscipline in the Rebels’ defence with four converted frees and the vice-captain continued to turn the screw throughout as she totted up a personal tally of ten points.
It was 0-8 to 0-5 at the interval and though Clíona Healy and O’Connor raised white flags in the third quarter for Cork, points from Dolan, Aoife Donohue and Orlaith McGrath stretched the gap.
A save by Fiona Ryan from Sorcha McCartan in the 44th minute was a key moment, particularly as points by Aoife Healy and O’Connor halved the deficit approaching the hour but Galway finished strongly with three points, Dolan splitting the posts either side of a Donohue effort from play, to remove all doubt.
