‘I don’t think anyone expects us to win’

A decade’s worth of experience in handling the pressure of big games is the X-factor which Cork carry into Sunday’s All-Ireland final, according to manager Paudie Murray.

The likes of Joanne O’Callaghan and Gemma O’Connor will take the field for their 10th camogie decider, while dual stars Rena Buckley and Briege Corkery with play in their 16th and 17th finals between now and the end of September. So while Cork may be aiming for a first title in five years, there remains a well of positive experiences which Kilkenny, without a title in 20 years, can’t match.

The Cats do enter as favourites to break that duck but Murray believes the weight of expectation will rest heavily on their shoulders.

“Having lost an All-Ireland last year and being red-hot favourites can’t be easy for them. It has to be difficult and there must be a lot of pressure on them,” Murray said.

“This year I don’t think anyone expects us to win. I was coming off the pitch in Waterford last week after beating Wexford and people were saying; ‘Sure ye have your day out anyway.’ A lot of people think we are just going up for the day, but we’re going up to win.”

Sunday will equally be a revenge mission for the ladies in red, who lost out to Kilkenny in last year’s semi-final. They had entered in good form but left having conceded two poor goals and on the wrong end of a one-point difference.

It was a loss which hit Cork hard and the turnaround was not easy.

“This year has been difficult for a number of reasons. We’ve a lot of girls that are working or in college outside the county, so we found it very difficult to get them together early on.

“The main thing about the League was that we blooded a few younger girls and hoped we would get one or two out of that, which I think we have. And it was the Munster Championship that things really started to kick on from.

“It’s obviously going to be very hard but I think they’ve reacted very well and their displays in the last three or four games have shown that as well.”

They learned a lot from a group stage loss to Wexford which Murray described as a “learning curve”.

“Defensively we had to change things around. Our scoring in front of goal wasn’t as good as what it should have been, our puckouts weren’t as good… but when we looked at it in the video afterwards, a lot of our play was quite good and we were actually a lot better than what we thought.”

Thus, despite their experience, the Leesiders have been a work in progress this year and playing a quarter-final against Offaly gave them more time to develop. They got an additional game at the semi-final stage too, having drawn with Wexford, and Murray is keen to see that as a positive. “Certainly our displays will give the girls massive confidence, there’s no doubt about that.”

It is a confidence which will be needed against a Kilkenny side averaging over 25 points per game.

“It’s pretty phenomenal in camogie terms,” says Murray, “but I don’t think we’re going to do anything different in our own plans. It’s 15 against 15. It’s a case of win your own battle and you go from there.”