By Daragh Ó Conchúir, at Croke Park
Two in a row for Cork, a first for Ger Manley as manager, having stepped into the vacancy left by last year’s successful boss, Matthew Twomey.
The former Rebel hurler had been involved as a coach the previous two seasons and the transition was seamless. His satisfaction at overseeing this success after a hugely entertaining game was obvious but it became evident too, that he didn’t want it to end here.
“What a game. Six extra minutes and I’m going, ‘God!’” said Manley as he watched the celebrations unfold around him on the pitch.
They started well but Galway settled into the fray and it was the Tribeswomen that led at the break, 0-10 to 0-9, Aoife Donohue, Carrie Dolan and Aisling O’Reilly carrying the scoring load for Cathal Murray’s crew, while all of Cork’s six forwards were on the mark for Cork.
The champions streaked six clear by the 41st minute however, Katrina Mackey getting a goal that might have been chalked off on other days. The Douglas sharpshooter seemed to be fouled when attempting to strike to the net but failing to get the connection. The sliotar ambled over the line and a goal was awarded.
Mackey pulled a hamstring, having played really well at the end of her 16th straight championship campaign, but her replacement Sorcha McCartan (pictured above with Galway’s Róisín Black) would go on to make a pivotal contribution.
At six points ahead, it didn’t seem as if Cork would need that but Galway had heroes everywhere and Donohue brought her tally to four from play and Dolan to eight in total as they reeled the Leesiders in.
At level pegging, it was the westerners had the energy but McCartan reinvigorated her side once more with a tremendous point. Fellow sub Clodagh Finn followed up and then set up McCartan to confirm the verdict.
“We went up five or six, they came back but you could always see us getting those scores because we had the few subs to make a difference,” Manley continued.
“We’ve been on the wrong side of these results over the years. This is our fourth final in a row and we lost two we should have won. But these are a team of their generation.
“They’re so good. You’ve Laura Treacy, (Ashling) Thompson, the Mackeys (Katrina and Pamela), Amy O’Connor, Laura Hayes. Méabh Cahalane came on after a hamstring tendon injury that’s supposed to keep you out three months. We put a lot in, so did Galway but we were a small bit better I think.
“Mackey tore her hamstring and was a loss as she was going well. And when Galway came at us, we held our nerve. The losses builds that character. And we have a brilliant coach in Liam Cronin. He’s the best I’ve ever worked with.
“We felt we’ve left a few after us so to win two is a great. You have to battle. There’s nothing easy up here. Galway came up but we’re there and we’re going to push on again if we can.”
McCartan was buzzing too, unsurprisingly, still feeling no pain though she had rolled her ankle quite badly.
“I got 20 minutes and there was nothing going to get me off it,” said the Down native, who played alongside Galway forward, Niamh Mallon when the Mourne women won the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland intermediate title in 2021.
“I’ve never been as relaxed going into a game ever. Once you realise your role, you have to adapt, accept it and embrace it. There’s some girls that trained all year and not gotten any game time so I’m just privileged to get that game time and be able to contribute.
“Galway are one of the top teams in the country and they weren’t going to hand it to us. We’re just delighted to get over the line. The training the past few weeks has been so intense and they’ve taken a lot out of us but we knew we’d come good when it mattered.”
She wasn’t thinking about what was on the line when she drilled that sensational lead point in the 53rd minute.
“No, thankfully not, because if I was, I probably wouldn’t have taken the shot. When you’re playing Galway, you don’t get those chances often so when you get it, you’ve got to take it. Sometimes they don’t go over, sometimes they do and thankfully today, they did.”
Murray was magnanimous in defeat and focussed on the outstanding efforts of his players, who had gone in as underdogs having lost by 12 points to Cork in the group phase when both sides were already qualified.
“It’s hard to put into words,” said Murray. “Obviously, bitterly disappointed. Super proud of the girls. Since the game in Páirc Uí Chaoimh we’ve been completely written off. There’s been a lot of obituaries written about us. For the last six weeks we’ve done ourselves really proud.
“It’s a tough dressing room. But we put ourselves in a great position, just probably didn’t take our chances down the stretch. That’s going to haunt us for a while.
“But Cork are a super team, we always knew that. We knew we had to give an unbelievable performance – we probably did that for a lot of the game. Just didn’t finish it off.
“The best two teams for me get to the final and the best team wins it. And Cork are the best team this year. They deserve it.
“Croke Park is for winners. It’s a lovely place to be when you win but it’s a tough place to be when you lose. I’m super proud of the girls, as I always am. Some unbelievable performance but unfortunately we just didn’t get over the line.”
