The sky’s the limit for Cork

CORK’S All-Ireland winning skipper, Juliet Murphy, yesterday paid tribute to coach Eamon Ryan and his management team for guiding them to a third consecutive ladies senior title.

After their emphatic win over Mayo in Croke Park on Sunday, both Murphy and coach Ryan alluded to the possibility of members of the squad taking time out to travel.

And Ryan pointed out that the management’s time was ‘now up’ and that it would be up to the County Board to decide on the next step.

Murphy again stressed the significance of his role yesterday.

She said: “Winning three-in-a-row is not something you’d think a lot about, maybe you would when you retire.

“We enjoy playing with each other so much — there’s great friendship there and there is always a great buzz in training.

“And Eamonn is really the key to the whole lot. He just makes you believe in yourself. He lets you unleash the shackles and play. ‘Pass and move,’ he says — and it’s a great way to play. You never feel you’re doing anything wrong, because you have that sense of freedom. And we have the players...’’

She agreed that their defending early in the game had a vital bearing on the outcome.

“It was all about not fouling, standing our ground. We did a lot of work with tackle bags earlier in the year. On Sunday we got bodies behind the ball. Nobody was left stranded in defence.’’

County Board PRO Fr Liam Kelleher agrees that following on the success of the minor and U16 teams, there is every reason for optimism.

“They played beautiful football. Everything was measured — their passing and their kicking. I thought it was the most perfect game of football I have ever seen Cork playing. They just played Mayo off the field. The sky is the limit. They are all very young, apart from a few ‘elder statesmen’. It depends on motivation — and many of the girls have a lot of mileage up. But, I’m sure the desire will be there to continue.

“This group of players has really gelled into a unit and it’s a credit to Mary (Collins, manager) and the management team. They can go on, although I doubt if they can do nine in a row like Kerry!’’

Robbie Griffin, the current Kerry manager and TG4 analyst, agreed that it was ‘a fabulous performance’ from Cork.

“We were looking at the statistics beforehand, which showed that the Cork full-forward line had something like 9-32 scored — compared to the Mayo full-forward line’s 1-10,’’ he commented.

“Mayo’s problem was that they were totally dependant on Cora (Staunton) and we all feared for them that the day would come when Cora and Claire Egan wouldn’t dominate. That day came on Sunday and it cost them.

“If you look at the depth in Cork’s panel, there’s no reason why they can’t go on. Every county aspires to beat them, they’re up there and we have to work hard to get there. But, you don’t get there overnight. They put in fierce work at under-age over the years and they’re reaping the dividends now!’’