Cork must be wary of very hungry Wexford

CONSISTENT with the general trend in camogie, the manager of the Cork side contesting Sunday’s All-Ireland senior final in Croke Park is a man!

What’s unusual in the case of John Cronin is that he is a farmer, but what really distinguishes him is his success rate — managing five winning U16 teams between 1999 and 2003 and leading the senior side to victory in the last two All-Ireland campaigns.

Twelve players from those U16 squads are involved and include some of the top names in the game. For him and the rest of the management, it represents a major commitment (having started back into training in February). What helps him is that they usually train in the UCC complex, The Farm, which is just a 12-minute drive from home.

In his first year in charge, Cork went into the 2005 final facing the threat of a third consecutive defeat at the hands of Tipperary. But, they turned the tables, repeated the dose last year and, for good measure, proved too good for them once more in this season’s All-Ireland semi-final.

On the other side, Wexford overcame Galway to qualify for their first final since 1994 — having last won the title in 1975 — with a team which included Brian Cody’s wife Elsie.

If Cronin has a concern about the extra pressure that three-in-a-row creates, he knows the Cork players have no reason to be complacent as Wexford hammered them by four goals earlier this year.

That game was played shortly after Cork beat Wexford by a point in the final of the National League. “They came out the following Saturday in Ballincollig and they beat us by four goals. We have a bit of ground to make up on them, we learned a lot from that match,’’ says Cronin.

“They’re a hungry team and they’ll be up there for it — they’ll take a lot of beating. The hunger is there, but it takes a huge effort and huge sacrifices. We had a break after the semi-final, but some of them had football.”

He admitted: “There is a lot of pressure on the dual players, but they are coping well. At the same time, you’d wonder how long will it last. Mary O’Connor has broken all rules. She’s one of the ‘elder’ players and she’s still going better than ever. She minds herself and keeps herself very fit, but she’s making huge sacrifices in her social life and things to play both games.’’

O’Connor is employed as the Camogie Association’s National Development Officer and that’s demanding in its own right.

“The job is harder because I’m trying to cover 32 counties. And as you get older (she was 30 in March), any sports person will tell you it takes the body longer to recover from games. And ladies football in particular can be quite intensive, very physical. I have made no secret of the fact that this is my last year playing dual, I’m not going to be playing inter-county football next year.

“Not that the spirit isn’t willing, it is very willing. Please God, if I’m picked to play on the 23rd that will be my last time playing with Cork (in the All-Ireland final against Mayo).”

She agrees Wexford represent serious opposition, commenting: “they will have a no-fear factor. It’s going to be a very different game from last year’s final. They’re going to bring a huge freshness and a huge hunger to the game. The one thing I’ll say is that we have been here before and lost as well. We’re going to have to play our own game and concentrate on ourselves.”