Ladies launch new bid for elusive All-Ireland title

AFTER an eight-week period since the end of their League campaign, the Kerry Ladies begin their Championship campaign this Friday evening with a trip to Macroom (throw-in at 7.30pm) to take on reigning All-Ireland champions Cork. After letting a seven-point lead slip against Mayo in the National League semi-final, Kerry are anxious to make amends according to team manager Alan O’Neill.

“We were very disappointed to let that game slip after being in such a strong position at half-time. We’ve done a lot of good work over the eight weeks since however and we hope that we can get off to a good start on Friday evening,” he said.

Mayo lost the subsequent League Final to Cork and even though the Rebelettes are without their successful manager of the last 10 years in Eamon Ryan (Ephie Fitzgerald now at the helm), O’Neill doesn’t think they will be as less formidable. “You are more or less dealing with the same players so you can expect that they will have the same motivation that they have always shown over the last decade. They are still going to be favourites for the All-Ireland but we’re not thinking too much about that stage yet. We really just want to focus on retaining our Munster title and see where the year goes from there,” O’Neill said.

There is a new opponent for the Kingdom to deal with in Munster with Waterford replacing Clare in the Senior Championship on account of winning the All-Ireland Intermediate title last year. Kerry won’t have to worry about Waterford until Saturday week when they face them at home in Brosna but with Cork having defeated Waterford in the opening game of the competition last week, O’Neill feels that Kerry are under pressure to get a result from Friday’s match.

“Waterford performed well in keeping Cork to only six points and it was a very strong defensive performance by them where they looked to be well organised. That’s something that we are going to have to think about after Friday but Cork are in the driving seat now having been the team to win the first match. We must get a result on Friday night to take the pressure off for the following weekend.”

Kerry did defeat Cork by a point in the League but it’s likely to be a lot tougher assignment for the Ladies this time as the Championship clicks into gear.

Kerry had to contend with some injuries in the latter stages of the league, notably to Aislinn Desmond and Louise Ni Mhuircheartaigh, but the management is happy to announce a clean bill of health ahead of the Championship and a full panel to select from.

Kerry will name their starting team tonight (Wednesday).