Oakley confident C of I will claim last eight slot

THE Cork Church of Ireland women’s team face a long journey north for the second year in a row in this weekend’s ESB Senior Cup, but coach Phil Oakley reckons that the prize of a quarter-final place will be motivation enough for his side.

They face Ards for the second time in two years at this stage of the competition, having beaten them 3-2 last year and Oakley thinks they can do so again this time around.

“Ards put up a good fight last year, so there is an element of déjà vu about this meeting,” he says, adding: “but we’ll be taking nothing for granted.”

He says that his side were probably the “classier” of the two teams last year and he hopes the strength they have throughout the team will stand them in good stead this time around as well.

“We were 3-1 up coming towards the end of the game last year and we hadn’t really played that well. They got a late goal and that probably made the tie look closer than it had been.

“But we’ve no doubts that they will push us hard and it will be a difficult match, without doubt,” he says.

The C of I coach points to the fact that Ards have an interesting newcomer to their team this year in the shape of Emer Horan, sister of Munster and Ireland prop Marcus, and she is a player he has come across while coaching at colleges level.

“She is a very tough cookie indeed and she brings a good deal of experience to a side that already is not without its strong points. But we’ve a lot of experience in our team too and I expect the likes of Jennifer and Karen Hales to figure strongly for us indefence, while the likes of Deirdre Casey, Holly Moffett and Sinead Connery will be important in midfield and Julie O’Sullivan up front,” Oakley says.

C of I also have two newcomers to the squad who may play some part in tomorrow’s match, Australian 18-year-old Tara Leigh and 17-year-old Suzie Herbert.

Elsewhere, Cork Harlequins entertain high-flying Leinster side Loreto in the ESB Senior Cup (hit-off 1 pm) and team manager Finbarr Kelleher says his side will have a full panel to pick from.

“Our three internationals – Julia O’Halloran, Eimear Cregan and Cliodhna Sargent – are all safely back from Ireland’s recent tour to South Africa and will be available,” he said.

“Julia got her first goal for Ireland, while Cliodhna got her first cap, so it was a good trip for them,” he added.

Of the opposition, the ‘Quins manager reckons that Loreto will be “formidable” opponents and he watched them recently in a Leinster League victory over Railway Union.

“We videoed that game and Loreto were very impressive. They dominated throughout and they certainly won’t be a pushover. Unfortunately for them their Irish international Nikki Symonds is in Germany, but they still have players of the calibre of Sarah Scott, who is their top goal scorer,” Kelleher commented.

Harlequins will have a lot of experience in their side, with the likes of Rachel Kohler, Karen Bateman and Jan Dillon all available, and they played a special game last week against the men’s second team in order to prepare for the speed and physicality of the cup challenge ahead.

The Munster Senior League clash between C of I and Harlequins, which will probably decide the title, has been scheduled for 7 pm on Thursday next, February 1, at 7 pm in Garryduff.