Securing one All-Ireland victory may be attributed to good luck, but achieving two in a row, to quote Oscar Wilde loosely, is unlikely to be accidental. This was vividly portrayed by the exemplary performances of both the senior and intermediate Camogie squads from Cork, who grabbed top honours in a thrilling Croke Park spectacle this past Sunday.
The Cork intermediates, led by Fiona Nelligan, set the event’s pace by inching out Kilkenny with a last-minute score to clinch the Jack McGrath Cup, ending with a score of 1-11 to 1-10. A strong late game surge by the Cork seniors secured them a win over Galway with a score of 1-16 to 0-16, earning them the Sean O’Duffy Cup for the consecutive year.
Subsequent to the win, over a thousand supporters journeyed to the Cork Camogie board headquarters on Blackrock’s Castle Road, where intermediate captain, Brian Dillons’ Lauren Homan along with senior captain, Sars’ Molly Lynch, held the pair of trophies sky-high to a roar of cheers.
The crowd was ecstatic as ‘We are the Champions’ by Queen resounded from the giant speakers, while the respective teams and their managers, Donie Daly and Ger Manley, were presented to the enthusiastic audience.
Commending the performance and dedication of both teams and their mentors, and expressing his gratitude to family and supporters, the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Dan Boyle voiced prophetic confidence for even greater camogie victories for Cork in the coming year.
Adding to the celebratory mood, MC Finbarr McCarthy of Cork 96FM called for a rousing cheer in honour of Ireland’s triumphant Olympic participants, notably Cork’s hometown heroes, Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy, who nabbed their own dual gold in Paris.
Early this month, Senior captain Molly Lynch, a recent winner of the Camogie Poc Fada in Louth, observed an upward trend in the quality of camogie at the All-Irelands, acknowledging that the Cork team faced a significant challenge from Galway which demanded an exceptional performance from both Cork’s team and substitutes to overcome.
Ger Manley, the current manager who was a remarkably talented hurler for Cork during the 1990s and took over from Matthew Twomey, last year’s All-Ireland-winning manager, was just as eager to stress that the success in securing their 30th title was a collective achievement of the whole squad.
He applauded his team as a fantastic group of players and praised his back room team under the leadership of coach Liam Cronin saying, “We’ve laid down certain expectations for our players, but they’ve not only met them but also surpassed them, and that’s the reason behind our celebration tonight with the O’Duffy Cup,” earning applause and joyous cheers from the crowd.