Cork dig deep to retain their title
Diarmuid Sheehan didn’t witness a great football match but he did see this Cork team dig deeper than ever before to retain their title
MOTHER Nature can be so cruel. A beautiful morning in Dublin last Sunday with the sun splitting the stones turned five minutes before the ball was thrown in at Croke Park for the Cork v Dublin All Ireland Ladies Football Final.
A pitch not known for being overly conducive to skilful play when wet, the turf at Croke Park sent balls and players slipping and sliding all over the place as rain reminiscent of the showers that heralded the building of Noah’s Arch plummeted down on the players.
Dublin dealt with the conditions better than the 10 time All-Ireland champions who were looking to make it six in a row. For Dublin, this was a chance to get back on the horse, to right the wrongs of the last two years when they came up just short against the Rebels.
Cork battled, they fought, they huffed and they puffed but they only managed to trouble the scoreboard on three occasion in the opening 30.
What seems to have saved the Cork women is the fact that their opponents only managed to hit the target on four occasions in a tough, uncompromising but ultimately disappointing opening period.
The second half was different though. Much different.
Cork were better, much better and to be fair to Dublin, so were they. The sun shone, the players got going and the game came to life. A record crowd for a Ladies All-Ireland final, 34,435, came to watch a cracker and the second 30 minutes provided it.
Cork used all the old clichés to their advantage on Sunday. They fought to the death, they showed their hunger remains and they dug deep. Boy, how they had to dig deep. Cork never trailed by much. Two points was the extent of it but Cork were outplayed for huge portions of this game. They struggled to deal with the runners,
they found it hard to handle a very mobile midfield and they never really looked like they would dominate this game. But credit to the girls in red and white they showed everything that has made them the side of the decade.
All-Irelands are usually won from the front. The plaudits go to the forward players as they tend to be the ones that put the ball over or in some cases under the bar. Of course on this occasion that is again the case. Doireann O’Sullivan’s four points will be shown in history as the scores that won this one and Yes, Rhona Buckley’s major was the big score but O’Sullivan’s two magnificent scores just when Cork needed them set up this win. Up to that point Doireann wasn’t getting a whole pile of change from her marker Deirdre Murphy but when she cut loose she managed to inflict real damage on a Dublin side that all in all looked to have the measure of the champions.
But saying that and despite all the heroics of the ladies up front, this game was won by the backs and front and centre when it comes to heroic displays was Bríd Stack. The number three was sensational. Her best display in a cork jersey for years. Her direct opponent, Sinéad Aherne may have scored 1-3 but only two points came from play, and that is all down to the efforts of Stack.
On the wings Marie Ambrose and Róisín Phelan shone with Deidre O’Reilly also doing her bit however the contribution of Shauna Kelly at left half back must also not be over looked. Kelly held the line well but also made a host of surging runs forward, three of which led directly to scores.
Cork deserved the win, whether Dublin supporters agree or not. This was another battle won by a brave band of players that just don’t know when they are beat. Cork looked in trouble for long periods of this game. They struggled with what Dublin brought to the table and for once, Cork looked like they didn’t have the answers. Those answers however did come and if the stories are to be believed they came thanks to some inspirational talk in the dressing room at half time.
We all know the stats, the number of medals won and the number of record breakers in the team but will we ever know how many expletives Briege Corkery had to impart on her team mates at the break? Probably not.
One can go over the stats all you want but when the dust settles and everyone goes back to their day jobs, Cork are still All Ireland champions and that is the only stat that counts.
Cork used all the old clichés to their advantage. They fought to the death, they showed their hunger remains and they dug deep. Boy, how they had to dig deep