Saoirse Noonan's latest haul means the Cork forward has now racked up 9-17 in under 300 inter-county minutes.
BY KIERAN McCARTHY
SAOIRSE Noonan’s latest haul means the Cork forward has now racked up 9-17 in under 300 inter-county minutes.
The Nemo Rangers’ forward showed how devastating she can be with 2-3 in last weekend’s Munster final win against Waterford in Dungarvan.
This is just her second season on the Cork senior panel and she’s coming back off a partial tear of her cruciate ligament late last year that kept her sidelined for five months.
Last year Noonan was used as a sub in Cork’s six championship games and scored 6-11 off the bench in the run-up to the All-Ireland final. She missed most of the league this season but has featured in the three championship games, including starting the last two. The Munster clash against Kerry was her first senior championship start for Cork.
A super sub last year, Noonan looks set for a more involved role this season, as she took her total in the last two games to 3-5.
‘She can be whatever she wants to be,’ Cork boss Ephie Fitzgerald told The Southern Star. ‘She is working hard now on her football fitness and her physical fitness because she was out for five months, which is a long time. She had a partial tear of her cruciate but she’s worked very hard to get back.
‘Saoirse has a great football brain, it’s second to none, she’s exceptional. She knows herself that she needs to get fitter and once she does that she’ll be a big addition to us.’
Her 2-3 tally against Waterford didn’t surprise Fitzgerald either.
‘She was very good, was always a goal threat, she fought hard for possession and she is very unselfish too. Saoirse’s an all-rounder, an excellent footballer, but we knew that already,’ he said.
