CORK’S 21-YEAR STAY in Division 1 of the Ladies National Football League has come to an end.
The Rebels’ relegation was confirmed after a 10-point defeat to Meath at Páirc Tailteann on Sunday, and they will operate in Division 2 next year for the first time since 2003.
It caps a miserable campaign for Shane Ronayne’s side, who overcame Galway on opening weekend but suffered six consecutive defeats thereafter.
With two sides dropping from the top-tier in a recent change to ruling, either the Tribe or Waterford will join Cork in Division 2 in 2025. Their Round 6 meeting was postponed and is still to be rescheduled, but will now effectively serve as a relegation shootout.
“Look a lot of good teams get relegated, you have seen it in the men’s games and they come back and hopefully Cork will do the same,” Ronayne told The Echo.
“There are a lot of young players in the squad and maybe playing in Division 2 will help them to develop as moving from minor to senior at the top level is not easy. Of course we don’t want to be down there but learning to play at the top level takes time.”
Cork led Meath by the minimum at the midpoint on Sunday. Three minutes into the second half, Daire Kiely had the chance to extend their 1-4 to 0-6 lead but Meath goalkeeper Robyn Murray saved the penalty she had won.
The Royals powered on from there, and ran out 2-14 to 1-7 winners in the end.
Ronayne’s general assessment? “In the last few weeks anything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Players being injured, and then we had three who lined out for the camogie [team] yesterday. Tired bodies coming up the road again.
“We came out for the second half a point up and we had the penalty to go four up. Missed that. A couple of minutes and then Meath get a goal. A seven- or eight-point swing.
When you are losing matches, your confidence is low. The confidence got sucked out of the team again. We are very disappointed, didn’t play well.”
It’s been a common theme for the new-look Leesiders of late. After that opening four-point victory over Galway, the closest they came was within two of Armagh and Mayo. They shipped heavy defeats to Kerry, Waterford and Dublin; the Déise one particularly disappointing as they were completely outplayed at Páirc Uí Rinn by a side whose number they generally have.
An injury blow to Katie Quirke in the lead-up to that Round 4 showdown really derailed Cork. The star forward suffered a serious knee injury in colleges’ action, which will sideline her until the All-Ireland series, at least.
In the absence of other big names, Quirke had led the scoring charge with 1-16 (9f) of her side’s 2-19 in their three games to that point.
Then came the retirement onslaught. Before the season began, it was reported locally that Doireann O’Sullivan would not be involved in 2024, while her older sister Ciara and Róisín Phelan were taking a break for the league. All three later called time on their respective inter-county careers.
Several others, including goalkeeper Meabh O’Sullivan — the younger sister of Ciara and Doireann — Eimear Meaney, Laura Fitzgerald and Bríd O’Sullivan had also stepped away from the set-up.
The departures left Cork without six of their Mourneabbey contingent — and most significantly, their last remaining links to the 2016 All-Ireland final team.
That was the Rebels’ last Brendan Martin Cup lift after a remarkable run of 11 successes in 12 years. Their reign of terror under the late Éamonn Ryan began in 2005; 2010 was the only year between then and 2016 that they didn’t climb the steps of the Hogan Stand.
Cork’s time in Division 1 was similarly fruitful. On their return to the top-flight in ’04, they reached the final but fell short to Mayo. They won 11 of the next 13 deciders.
Their last league crown arrived in 2019, and the wait for more Division 1 silverware will go on.
Transition is a word that has been associated with Cork in recent years, but never more so than now.
They still have some top players in Melissa Duggan, Máire O’Callaghan, Hannah Looney and Libby Coppinger, but lack of experience and leadership appears to be an issue.
They have lost some other big hitters, like Eimear Scally. “It’s just not an environment that I want to be in right now,” the three-time All-Ireland winner told The 42 in November 2022.
AFLW star Erika O’Shea is another who has not been involved since opting out last May.
There have been whispers of turbulence off the field, but put simply, plenty on it needs work.
Cork scored the least and conceded the most points in Division 1 (57 and 100 respectively), leaving them with an alarming score difference of -43.
It’s the worst by a distance, with Waterford next in line on -13.
In the latter stages of the campaign, Cork had been targetting an increase to their scoring rate but they must also solidify their defence going forward.
It’s a fine balance, and finding that will be key for Ronayne and co.
They know huge improvements are needed ahead of their Munster championship opener away to Waterford on 20 April.
Crucial to the response will be the relegation cloud lifting quickly.
