Cork ladies fancied to get the better of challengers Donegal

LIDL LADIES NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 1 FINAL

Cork v Donegal

THIS weekend Cork will head into their 10th Football League final in-a-row where they will face up to a Donegal side hell bent on taking some silverware back to the north west of Ireland.

The protagonists couldn’t be further apart when it comes to silverware in the locker. However, history will count for little this time out as the girls in green and gold prepare to throw everything they have at the overwhelming favourites and perpetual title holders Cork.

Cork came to the final thanks to a comfortable win over perennial foes Dublin while Donegal brushed aside Galway by 5-11 to 1-07 in their last four encounter.

This game, which is scheduled for Dublin’s Parnell Park next Sunday, will see two of the form teams going head to head and while Cork will be favourites, Donegal won the last fixture between the two just a few short weeks ago.

Cork will need to be on their guard in this one as the likes of Geraldine McLaughlin and Yvonne McMonagle would like nothing more than to put Cork under the same pressure that they managed to heap on Galway a few weeks previous.

Donegal’s thrashing of the Tribeswomen would not have gone unnoticed on Leeside, particularly after Donegal had already comprehensively dismissed Cork by 3-16 to 0-10 in early April.

That day it was also the dynamic duo of McLaughlin and McMonagle that caused the problems, scoring 3-10 between them, an impressive tally that was surpassed last time out by their 5-8 partnership against Galway.

Donegal obviously have much more to offer than the two lethal attackers, but if Cork can keep them quite then they will be half way to winning another national title. For the Rebels, this has been a much more impressive and consistent league campaign than last year’s efforts, however, ultimately the result may well be the same.

Cork, under Ephie Fitzgerald last season got off to a slow start however this year they came out all guns blazing right from the campaign’s first whistle.

Cork really have it all to lose this time out as their status as the greatest team ever assembled in the country is again put to the test however time and time again this bunch of stars deliver and, despite losing to Donegal earlier in the month, it would be a tough ask to get most seasoned punters to back against the Rebels.

While the old guard of Briege Corkery and Rena Buckley have been absent for the majority of the year so far Cork have luckily been able to rely on the newer stars to build the scores and the momentum required with players like Orla Finn and Eimear Scally leading the line superbly so far this season.

Midfielder Niamh Cotter has also impressed this season with Cork goalkeeper Martina O’Brien also showing her worth in more than one game.

Cork will justifiably be favourites here and will take the spoils, all going to plan, however there is little doubt that this particular Donegal side will win if Cork don’t show up with all of their battling qualities in tow.

Prediction: Predictably enough perhaps, Cork to win this one after a tough 60 minutes.