Unbeaten Kerry have Cork firmly in their sights

KERRY and Cork square off in Ladies NFL Division One Final on Sunday with the rivalry every bit as intense as their male counterparts.

Insisted Kingdom skipper Geraldine O’Shea: “Any time we see a Cork jersey we want to beat them. You want to get one up on them if you can.

“Cork are the team that everybody wants to beat — and have to beat if you are to have a great chance of winning something. We’re hoping to put it up to them, but there has been a big turnover in our team.

“We have about ten new faces, so it will be a big day for a few of them. Hopefully they will react well and learn.’’

Cork, the standard setters in league and championship, had one defeat en route to the final when losing to Dublin.

But captain Angela Walsh warned: “We have upped our game a huge amount since that match.”

The addition of a number of new players — including the O’Sullivan sisters from Mourne Abbey and Annie Walsh from her own club (Inch Rovers) — has helped freshen things up, she says.

“The League is more important this year because of the format for the championship.

“There would have been a substantial gap there if we hadn’t progressed. Kerry have been very impressive — the only unbeaten team at the moment — so we’re expecting a tough game from them.’’

Kerry boss Robbie Griffin, takes pride in the progress made with their new look-team, noting that most analysts predicted they would be fighting for relegation — in a group which included Tyrone, Armagh, Mayo and Laois who were all in the shake-up for last year’s All-Ireland.

“What we have this year is a team that works very hard for each other from one to 15 and we’d like to think we have a few players on the bench who can do a job. We have a great ethic. While we are undefeated that will have little relevance on Sunday. We are certainly up against it. You have to admire the success they have had over the last few years. They are a team to be reckoned with — the best we have seen in the modern era. We relish the role of underdog, but it’s imperative that we perform well, with the championship the following Saturday.”