McCormack looking for a little bit of luck

PADDY McCORMACK still reflects on last year’s All-Ireland camogie final and thinks not so much about how Cork snatched victory from Tipperary but why they were able to manage it.

With 58 minutes on the clock and his team in front by a point the title seemed theirs. But within moments they were smothered by an avalanche of scores and Cork were champions.

The Premier county have contested every final since 1999, and met Cork in each of them except 2001 (when they defeated Kilkenny).

Remarkably, in a county with such a proud hurling tradition, they had never won a senior camogie title until seven years ago, under the guidance of former hurling star Michael Cleary.

McCormack, who is the GAA development officer with the Tipperary Institute in Thurles is in his second year in charge, after having previously coached the Tipp minor hurlers.

He says that Cork were deserving winners last year but this time he hopes that ‘the bit of luck’ may be on their side.

“Whatever it was in the final last year, Cork looked fresher. They finished better. They were more ‘up for it’ on the day. Cork have an outstanding panel and most of the girls from last year are still involved. They have been on the losing side for so many years they won’t be happy with one title. They’ll be trying for back-to-back. However, there’s a great hunger in Tipp to get back there again. While a lot of the girls have won All-Irelands there are up to half a dozen who haven’t played in an All-Ireland final.”

Recognising that Sunday’s Gala-sponsored championship decider will be a big test for those newcomers, he paid tribute to the players who have retired since last year — the likes of Ciara Gaynor and Therese Brophy, part of an outstanding half-back line which was ‘the launching pad’ for what was achieved post-’99 along with Noelle Kennedy and Deirdre Hughes.

The new round robin system is favoured by the Tipp manager.

“It definitely brings up the top four teams in the semi-finals. There’s no easy route in. Every match was important and it made things very competitive.

But at the end of the day the top four were there (Cork playing Galway and Tipp paired with Kilkenny).”

Looking at the bigger picture, he believes that a number of the other counties are gaining ground and expects Galway to improve soon.

“I was very impressed by them the day we played in Portumna. There’s an unbelievable group of girls coming through. If you look at Kilkenny, only a bit of bad luck kept them out of the semi-final. Wexford have made a lot of progress, Limerick, too and Dublin are back in the championship (after winning the junior title recently).