Ladies Gaelic Football

8 | SPRING 2021 | www.ladiesgaelic.ie 2011: Cork 2-07, Monaghan 0-11 Monaghan pushed the Cork women as hard as they could in 2011. Amy O'Shea captained the team and collected the cup on crutches. Cork were both ruthless and calm up front. Monaghan made some defensive errors that Cork made no mistake about capitalising on. Monaghan kept in the game, Ciara McAnespie and Niamh Kindlon playing really well. Once again, Eamonn Ryan seemed to know exactly what substitutions to make. Amy O'Shea was off injured, he took off Valerie Mulcahy, Norita Kelly and Orla Finn were introduced and made a massive difference. Deirdre O'Reilly was excellent in the backs. Eamonn laughed after the game that O'Reilly hates playing corner back but she was good at it and willing to do it for the team. 2012: Cork 0-16, Kerry 0-7 The all Munster affair was built up in the weeks leading up to the game, people suggested that Kerry knew Cork well and could dismantle them. William O'Sullivan, the Kerry manager, made positional switches to do just that, there were ex-Kerry legends in the backroom team, none of it mattered, Cork were too good. Cork won a lot of frees, which Valerie Mulcahy converted with ease. Doireann O'Sullivan established herself as an exceptional centre forward and the wing back duo of Briege Corkery and Geraldine O'Flynn did their usual and dominated the wings. Kerry knew Cork, but Cork knew Kerry and had no problem in dispatching them in the final. 2013: Cork 1-10, Monaghan 1-09 The third final against Monaghan was even closer than the first two. This was a more of a scrappy final, with the Cork forwards registering 8 wides in the second half. It came down to two frees - Valerie Mulcahy standing over a ball with 3 minutes left on the clock… she nailed it. Catriona McConnell's free was the last kick of the game, 40m out into the wind… it sailed wide. During the game, both goalkeepers had an influence, Linda Martin converted a penalty for Monaghan but Elaine Harte made a fine stop from a McConnell shot just before half time. It was a tough encounter but again Cork found a way to make it happen. 2014: Cork 2-13, Dublin 2-12 This was the year of the epic comeback. Dublin exploded into the game and were on top all over the pitch. It looked like a safe bet for the Dubs as the game went on. With 15 minutes to go, Cork were 10 points down. The last 15 minutes of this game showed the real character of the group that Eamonn Ryan built. He made substitutions – Rhona Ní Bhuachalla and Eimear Scally, both scored goals. All of a sudden, with seven minutes on the clock the sides were level and there was a glint in the Cork eyes. Geraldine O'Flynn stole the final minutes. She missed a few earlier in the game but when the chips were down she made them count. This was one of their most impressive displays. 2015: Cork 0-12, Dublin 0-10 This game was quite defensive but it made no odds to Cork in the end! Both teams kicked wides in the first half, the game threatened to take off but it never did. At half-time the sides were level. Cork made their move in the second half, kicking four unanswered points when the game restarted. While many of the Cork players didn't have a perfect game, it mattered little as they all did enough when it really mattered. Briege Corkery gave a player of the match performance and the Cork defence closed out the game in a merciless fashion. They were hell- bent on not allowing the dangerous Dublin forwards any chink of light to get through. THE SECOND

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