Cork manager Joe Carroll said their second half display was key as they moved up to second in the Lidl National Football League Division 1 table when they defeated Armagh by 2-8 to 1-9 in a rescheduled clash in Crossmaglen.
A second successive win keeps them hot on the tails of neighbours Waterford as they maintained their unbeaten start to the campaign, having drawn with Kildare on the opening weekend and defeated Galway last time out.
“We were delighted with our performance, especially in the second half when we were two points down playing against the wind. The pitch was in excellent condition, superb actually given the weather we’ve been having.
“We weren’t happy with the goal we gave away in the first half where she waltzed from half-back right down the middle of our defence, but these things happen. We worked a lot harder in the second half. Goals at times can come from turnovers and I think we were fast with what we did with the ball when we got the chances and we took them.
“We possibly had another goal chance at the end but we took our point just to make sure that we had the match won.”
Carroll said their unbeaten start after promotion has been encouraging but he knows they have tough tasks ahead.
“We were one of the favourites to be relegated back to Division 2 but we’ve had good results. You could say we haven’t played the big shots yet like Kerry, Waterford, Dublin. Anything we get out of the league from here on is going to be a plus for us.
“Hopefully another couple of points will keep us in Division 1 which was our target and we’ll see where it takes us after that.”
Armagh led by 1-3 to 0-4 in difficult conditions thanks to a goal from Alana Donnelly after 26 minutes.
But goals from Rachel O’Regan and Rachel Leahy proved decisive as Cork carved out the win despite Kelly Mallon shooting 0-8 for an Armagh side hoping to build on their first win over Kildare last time out.
However, Armagh manager Greg McGonigle said a second loss in three games leaves them with relegation issues.
“We were giving too many balls away and didn’t deserve to get anything out of the game,” he said. The bottom line is, we conceded two soft goals. It more or less puts us in a relegation battle now to try and stay up.
“But I was here two years ago and we keep talking about rectifying these mistakes but we never seem to do it. We do it maybe one game and then we go back into our old habits again of giving the ball away, not keeping possession,” he added.
Meanwhile, in Division 4, Leitrim maintained their perfect start with an 8-20 to 1-1 victory over Kilkenny, while Carlow also kept their 100% record intact when they edged out Offaly by 2-8 to 0-12.
Sligo notched their second win with a 2-8 to 3-2 triumph over Longford, while Wicklow got their first victory of the campaign when they pipped Derry by a point.
