Ryan braced for tough battle with Mayo

Cork Ladies Football manager Eamonn Ryan admits his team must expect the unexpected when they collide with Peter Clarke’s Mayo side in the Division 1 League final tomorrow at Parnell Park (3.45pm).

It will be the ninth time in 10 years the Rebel ladies contest the League decider but Ryan admitted having Mayo as opponents came as a complete surprise, after the westerners dumped out defending champions Monaghan.

“We can expect the unexpected against Mayo, because we were 100% sure Monaghan would win,” he said.

“It does change it a bit. Mayo must have played very well because Monaghan are a class team. I’m still trying to figure out how it happened, I don’t know how it happened.”

Cork earned their place in the final courtesy of a convincing 4-12 to 2-8 triumph over a Laois outfit that had beaten them earlier in the season.

To respond to that Laois defeat with such an emphatic win last weekend proved to Ryan that his squad are as hungry as ever.

“It was satisfying because in the earlier round they beat us and they deserved to beat us.

“We didn’t play well, we started well but we just fell asunder and we tried hard but we just couldn’t beat them.

“So it was satisfying in that respect, we came back and proved that we’re still there.”

Winning has become a habit for the Cork ladies since Ryan took charge in 2004. Since then they’ve claimed seven All-Irelands in eight seasons, while the league final defeat to Monaghan last May saw them fall just short of five top flight titles in-a-row.

Having grown so accustomed to winning silverware it would be understandable if Cork lost their edge, but there is little risk of complacency creeping in as long as Ryan is at the helm.

“We’re realistic enough to know that it’s not an exact science. If you’re not up for a game anybody can beat you. The girls, myself and the selectors look at it that way. You need to be up for the game.

“We look at every game, first of all as a game we want to win. The more you win the further you get in the year and then at a stage the league morphs into the championship and then you have to win.

“We just try to go as far as we could in any year. That sort of attitude has served us well, rather than having a goal in the far distance.”