Murphy hails team effort from City
LADIES SOCCER
Daire Walsh
HOT on the heels of their emphatic 4-0 victory over Castlebar Celtic on March 13, Cork City WFC recovered from a 3-1 interval deficit to claim all three points against Peamount United at Greenogue on Saturday evening.
Second-half goals from Maggie Duncliffe, Lauren Murphy and Ciara Desmond aided their cause, and Cork defender Zoe Murphy felt that the confidence gained from their most recent Women’s National League success was replicated on their latest trip to Dublin.
“Well, we came into the game with confidence from the last game. We came up wanting to win the game. We didn’t have a great start in the first-half, so come half-time we were buzzing to get back out there, and we deserved the win in the end,” Murphy revealed.
With eight months of training now under their belts, there is certainly a sense that City are really starting to gel as a squad.
Murphy was quick to acknowledge that it is a team effort, and although it was a slow beginning to the proceedings on this occasion, she is hopeful that they can continue their encouraging run of form.
“As I said, it’s a team effort. There’s 11 players on the pitch, and we all showed up today. I know it was a slow start in the first-half, but we’ve been training now for the last eight months, and this is the product that we want. It’s just coming together for us now at this time of the season, and hopefully we can go into next week and get another three points.
“I think our confidence is building. I mean, we’ve got six points now out of the last two games. Unfortunately, we conceded tonight, but we’ve got eight goals in the last two league games. So hopefully we can build on that.”
Aside from the obvious morale-boosting aspect, this win ensured that Cork increased the gap between them and sixth-placed Peamount to four points. The Leesiders are also placing considerable heat on UCD, Shelbourne and Wexford, and Murphy and her team-mates realised how essential a win was going to be in advance of this tie.
“That’s what we knew coming up. We knew the circumstances, we needed the three points. Three points was the only option for us.