McConville braced for Cork challenge

By Shaun Casey

ARMAGH won’t be taking Cork for granted despite their dip in form, according to skipper Lauren McConville ahead of their All-Ireland Championship opener this weekend at Páirc Uí Rinn.

The Rebels won the Division One league title back in April, beating Armagh on the way, but finished bottom of the group in Munster, losing all three of their championship encounters.

Armagh on the other hand secured a third successive Ulster throne as they overcame a stiff Tyrone test in the decider, to win by the minimum of margins.

“It’s very hard to know, they were brilliant in the league, and they had a great win over ourselves too,” said the Crossmaglen dual-star.

Sands: We need to be at our very best against Cavan

“I would have been very impressed with them and looking at their Munster Championship results, the only thing I could say on that is that the Munster Championship is so competitive now, all four teams would have had their eye on at least reaching the Munster final.

“I don’t know if there was a of a lull after their league final win and they didn’t get reset the way they wanted but there didn’t seem to be many injuries.

“The team sheet is similar and obviously we’ll be doing our homework on them, and I think that league game will stand to us. We were disappointed with our own performance, so we know what we need to do work on in advance.”

That league encounter was back in the middle of February and the Orchard County, playing on home turf in Crossmaglen, surrendered a two-point half time lead to ultimately taste a two-point defeat.

“They have dangerous players all over the field and they are quite an athletic team,” McConville continued. “They also have good physicality with some sharpshooters too, so we’ll have to get our matchups right on the day.

“That day in Cross was probably one of our more disappointing performances. It probably hurt myself even more because it was my first time captaining the team on my own club grounds.

“It’s good when you do get a chance in the year to rectify something you felt went so wrong. Our matchups are going to be key, and we have been reviewing that game so hopefully we can put a better foot forward this time around.”

It’s a long journey south for Gregory McGonigle’s charges, but they are staying the night before just to relieve some of the pressure.

“It’s a massive spin down to Cork but we’ll be going down the day before. The game is at 3.15pm so it would be tight enough leaving that morning. You want to give yourself plenty of time and at least you can get down the road and get settled the evening before.

“That’s the one benefit of having those long journeys in the league, you’re used to doing it and it’s kind of a normal routine for us now which is good.”