Saoirse Noonan ‘could be the face of ladies football for 10 years’, says Cork boss

Teenage sensation Saoirse Noonan has the talent to become the face of ladies football for the next 10 years, Cork manager Ephie Fitzgerald has declared on the eve of the 19-year-old’s All-Ireland senior final debut.

Noonan, as she has done all summer, will begin tomorrow’s decider on the bench. Come half-time or early into the second period, a member of the Cork management, as has been the case all summer, will beckon the Nemo Rangers forward down from the Hogan Stand and tell her to get ready for the fray.

She’s featured five times for the Cork seniors over the past three months. Hasn’t started a single game, hasn’t needed to. The certainty in Fitzgerald’s tone when predicting that Noonan will be one of the game’s leading players over the next decade, a declaration largely based on 128 minutes of game-time, gives you a fair indication of the wrecking ball she has taken to opposing defences when sprung from the bench.

On the afternoon of the Munster final on June 23, Noonan made her senior debut when replacing Orlagh Farmer at half-time. She finished the game as top-scorer, banging in 2-2.

It was almost the exact same story in their All-Ireland series opener against Monaghan, Noonan coming in for Farmer at the break and twice raising a green flag.

Called into battle against Armagh with 38 minutes on the watch, her contribution was a modest 0-1.

The Republic of Ireland soccer international kicked 1-5 (two frees) in the 22 minutes she was on the field for the All-Ireland quarter-final against Westmeath, while her sixth goal of the campaign was the score which holed Donegal below the waterline last time out. The soon-to-be CIT business student also converted three frees following her 36th-minute introduction at Dr Hyde Park.

That’s a total of 6-11, putting her sixth on the 2018 championship scoring chart.

“She has been unbelievable,” proclaimed the Cork manager.

“I firmly believe that Saoirse could be the face of ladies football for the next 10 years if she truly committed to it. She has the makings of a top, top player. I am always telling Saoirse. She has come on in five matches and got six goals. That is the type of talent you are looking at.”

Ephie, himself a Nemo Rangers clubman, first approached the two-time All-Ireland medal winner at the beginning of the year. Soccer, however, was the focus at the time and, in particular, the UEFA women’s U19 championship elite round, all three games of which were being staged at Turner’s Cross in early April.

A towering header from Noonan secured Ireland a share of the spoils in their opener against Austria, but subsequent defeats at the hands of Spain (3-0) and Turkey (2-0) brought an end to their involvement in the competition.

Back came Ephie, his request the same.

“I know Saoirse well. I know her father, her parents and her grandparents very well. She’s a lovely girl and was probably a little bit embarrassed at being asked in at that stage of the year, her thinking being, ‘Oh God, I am coming in and I am taking someone else’s place’.”

The girl herself backs up the manager’s reading of the situation, admitting, “I was hesitant at the start because they are such a talented bunch of girls and had been training for so long.”

Her decision to accept the invitation and join the set-up two weeks before the start of her Leaving Cert at Christ King secondary school bridged a nine-month gap to her most recent involvement with a Cork ladies football panel.

Last August, Noonan, positioned in her favourite full-forward berth, kicked 3-4 as John Cleary’s minors crushed Galway in the All-Ireland final. The year previous, she ran up 2-5 in a player of the match performance to pocket the first of her minor medals.

Such tallies should have made her progression to the senior ranks an automatic inevitability, but Cork City and Ireland commitments thereafter, which gave rise to an FAI Cup winners medal and National League Young Player of the Year award, saw her burgeoning career inside the whitewash move in a different direction.

“I always hoped to play for the Cork seniors, but after the [2017] All-Ireland minor final, I thought that was it, that I wouldn’t really play that much Gaelic football any more,” revealed Noonan.

“I got the opportunity this year and even though the Cork City season was up and running, I don’t think anyone can say no to coming into the Cork senior team. I took it upon myself and here I am.

“Throughout the Leaving Cert, Ephie was telling us to take a break from training. I didn’t want to stop coming out, though. I was enjoying it so much. I trained right through my exams.”

The balancing act became even more delicate as the summer progressed.

Gym session with the Cork footballers on Monday; train with Cork City of a Tuesday; ladies football on Wednesday; soccer on Thursday; Cork City training from 6-7pm on Friday at CIT, then football from 7-8pm at the same venue. In recent weeks, football has taken priority on Fridays.

“I have been lucky in that there has only been one weekend where there’s been a clash of games. It was the Saturday we were playing Monaghan, Cork City were away to Peamount the same day.

“Now, I was dropped for one Cork City game. There was a bit of controversy over it. I wasn’t too happy.

“I had missed training because I had been training with the Cork ladies coming up to the All-Ireland quarter-final. I was really disappointed to be dropped.

“That’s what happens when you want to play at the top level in different sports. I got my chance in the next game against Limerick. I scored, haven’t been dropped since.”

Noonan continued: “It has always been a goal of mine to play in the Aviva and Croke Park. I ticked the Aviva off the list last year when we won the FAI Cup final.

“Hopefully, I get a run on Sunday and finish it off. After the All-Ireland final, it is back to Cork City.

“I am going to keep playing with Cork City, but, maybe, take a small step back and try and get away.

“And breathe. The last 18 months have been hectic. It has been non-stop.

“The future is exciting for me. I am still young and so grateful for what I have achieved thus far.”

The game-changing goal in the 2014 (Eimear Scally), 2016 (Rhona Ní Bhuachalla) and 2017 (Sarah McCaffrey) ladies finals was registered by a substitute. There’s every chance that trend will continue tomorrow.