‘THIS is where Cork ladies football needs to be, so we’re delighted,’ beamed Cork captain Emma Cleary after the Rebels put themselves back among the game’s front-runners with a Division 1 success that feels bigger than just one moment.

Having slipped down the pecking order in recent years, including last season’s brief stay in Division 2, Cork have put themselves back into the conversation following their Division 1 triumph.

It’s the first time since 2019 that the Rebels have lifted this trophy, so for a young team finding its feet, it’s an important stepping stone.

‘We haven’t got too much silverware in the last few years,’ Emma Cleary explained.

‘We put together a good league campaign and I’m delighted that we have this to show for it,’ she added, after the 2-8 to 0-9 success against Galway at the Gaelic Grounds.

‘We took our chances when they counted. We knew we would have it in the tank in those last 15 minutes because we put down a hard winter, and I am delighted it showed there.’

For manager Joe Carroll, his focus is already on the Munster championship and the upcoming opener against Tipperary on April 25th in Páirc Uí Rinn. Still, he knows how important this league campaign is to Cork on a number of levels – his players gained exposure to top teams in Division 1, more than held their own, and now have silverware as a sign of their progress.

‘It’s a reward for the amount of work they’ve put in, and they’ve put in a huge amount since last December. In fairness to them, they’ve fully committed to it. Maybe we got a few breaks along the way in games we could have lost, but it just shows we’ve built a lot of resilience as well,’ Carroll said.

‘The final against Galway was one that could probably have gone away from us a small bit, being five points down at half-time. But we kept at it and in the last 15 minutes we were by far the stronger team.’

Carroll also hailed player of the match Melissa Duggan for her display in the victory.

‘Melissa is extremely professional. She is one of our most experienced players and, along with the likes of Shauna Kelly, Máire O’Callaghan and Áine Terry O’Sullivan, they’re all extremely professional in how they go about things and they’re great leaders for the group,’ the Cork boss said.

‘Even the next group coming through, Emma Cleary’s age group, are very professional too. It’s a great thing to have in the squad because the younger players can look up to that.

‘It makes it easier as well because you don’t have to be on to players about minding themselves or nutrition or anything like that – they’re driving it themselves. Melissa would be one of the main leaders in that regard.’