A wave of emotion driven by an unwavering team ethos
DISCUSSIONS AFTER CORK’S HISTORIC LADIES FOOTBALL WIN SURROUNDED HAWKEYE AND THE POINT THAT WASN’T BUT THAT DETRACTS FROM THE BELIEF AND SPIRIT OF THIS CORK SIDE...
WHEN waking up on the morning after an All Ireland Final, you are met with a feeling of either ecstasy or agony. For the first few seconds as you open your heavy eyes – mostly likely having only hit the pillow a few hours before, if even – you forget where you are. You forget why you are in a hotel room. Then the juggernaut of emotion hits you whether you are ready for it or not.
It comes at you so fast that you gasp for breath. Then you remember. That for me was either the best or worst moment of the occasion. When you win you leap out of the bed, it’s like you have the energy to play all over again. Limbs could be hanging off your body, but you don’t feel a thing. You bound down the corridor to meet your team-mates, who are scattered in various quarters of the hotel. Some are just waking up, others having not yet slept. They don’t need to as they are ‘ living a dream’ with their eyes firmly open.
It’s a different story when you lose. You trudge out of bed, not wanting to meet anyone outside of the squad. They mean well, but they just don’t understand. You aren’t ready to face them yet. You dread what the match reports will say; what critics will conclude was the cause of your team’s demise. The aftermath can be the crueller than accepting the result.
The dissection of the match, the over analysis, the opinions, the quiet comments. It’s terrible to deal with that.
Sport can cause people to experience emotion in extreme forms. It can force you to your knees in floods of tears, or high into the sky in fits of delight.
Last Monday morning, the Dublin Ladies Football panel had a lot of digest. Not alone did they lose an All Ireland Final for the third consecutive time to this great Cork team, but they did so by a solitary point. The worse way to go down.
All the talk immediately after the game was about ‘ the point that never was’; the controversial wide that should have been a score for Dublin.
Yes, they will feel aggrieved. Rightly so, it was a score they worked hard for and were subsequently denied by a man in a white coat. Waking up to that was bad enough, but that’s not what would have hurt the most.
Shooting 13 wides along with numerous kicks into the Cork keepers hands, will eat away at them more than the disallowed point.
This Cork team’s legacy will carry on long after all of them have retired – 11 All Ireland titles in 12 years. It doesn’t do them justice to say it’s an amazing achievement.
Dublin were prepared to fight last Sunday. You could see it in their body language, in their movement, in their work-rate. When you get close to a team like this Cork powerhouse, when you get your chance to go ahead, you punish. You must, because history has shown us that these rebel women do not give up.
The only time the scoreboard matters to them is at the end. Dublin had their chances and that is what will leave a lingering sting.
Would that point have made the difference to Dublin earning a replay? Perhaps. But would the Cork team have conceded a penalty in the dying moments had they been only three points up? Probably not. Would the referee have even awarded the penalty, if Cork were only 3 points up? Who knows. It’s all speculation.
Hawkeye not being made available was frustrating from a player perspective. I don’t understand it.
The Camogie Association made it available for the semi-finals in Thurles and for the finals in Croke Park. It was the incorrect call by the Ladies Football Association. When the technology is accessible and on hand to help enhance the games on the biggest day of their calendar year, then why wouldn’t they provide it?
Undoubtedly there was momentous effort invested in the promotion of the finals and that resulted in getting almost 34,500 bums on seats in Croke Park. However, those same efforts were effectively hampered by the ‘ top dogs’ lack of foresight when it came to Hawkeye.
All things considered, the Hawkeye drama should not dampen the success story of this Cork Team.
Their unwavering belief, spirit and commitment are as aspirational as they are inspirational.
I read somewhere that Eamonn Ryan’s greatest achievement was building a team ethos where these girls could continue to flourish even after he, and other top players, had left the set up.
And who says they are done yet?
SPORT CAN CAUSE PEOPLE TO EXPERIENCE EMOTION IN EXTREME FORMS. IT CAN FORCE YOU TO YOUR KNEES IN FLOODS OF TEARS, OR HIGH INTO THE SKY IN FITS OF DELIGHT