Dentist John crowns a remarkable comeback
Browne, a member of the last team to bring Liam McCarthy Leeside in 1999, was out of championship hurling for two years due to his dentistry work in England,
But like Brian Corcoran, he was persuaded to return. The Blackrock man was content with a place on the bench but midway through the first half Brian Murphy was forced off suffering from migraine.
Browne dedicated his medal to his father Con, who died a month after last year’s All-Ireland final and brother Alan, the former Cork captain.
“Alan rang me straight after the match. He was naturally very happy, delighted for everybody. Obviously he was very down after last year, especially being captain and then when our father died.
“Himself and [wife] Yvonne watched the game in a pub in Paris. He had a holiday planned two months ago. [Their son] Matthew was in his Cork jersey. I’d say he was thrown up in the air every time we got a score.” So how did he feel on Sunday?
“When Brian Murphy got injured, myself and Pat Mulcahy were warming up, and the next thing I got the call. It was strange to be on so early, to be in the dressing room at half time after coming on as a sub,” he said.
His last championship game was against Galway in 2002, when Cork performed very poorly in defeat and later staged their strike. In March of this year he re-joined the panel on a part-time basis and became a full member fully two months later. And now he has a second All-Ireland medal.
Meanwhile, Ben O’Connor was delighted at twin brother Jerry playing a full part in the team’s success. Five years ago, Ben was a member of the team, while Jerry was a sub.
“It was nice to see him winning his medal. He is hurling a long time. He has as much done as I have. And, that goes for a lot of lads who won their first medal,” he said.
Ben has no doubt Newtownshandrum’s win in the All-Ireland club championship benefited Cork.
“People were saying that the fact of no Cork team winning the club championship for a while meant that the standard of Cork club hurling was gone down a bit. Winning the title gave fierce confidence to fellows and showed that Cork hurling was still up there with the best.
“They knew that if we got our act together and put in a few good performances, we were capable of winning the All-Ireland,” he said. The Newtown contingent’s return was meticulously planned.
“Donal gave us four or five weeks off and didn’t force us to come back for the League. I only played ten minutes of the Waterford match and then the Clare match. And when we were training three or four nights a week, he gave us a night off during the week to recover.
“I don’t think tiredness comes into it. It’s just about being fresh. In the past, with fellows who got tired, who felt burned out, a lot of it was in their head!”
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