Memory of Western front defeat drives Cronin

LOOKING on as a spectator at last year’s Gala All-Ireland senior camogie final in Croke Park, former Cork star Denise Cronin concluded Wexford deserved their victory over the Rebels.

However, she reacted very differently to Galway’s win over Cork in the 1996 final, when the Westerners won their only title. Back then, it was personal. She was playing. And she didn’t even have the consolation of believing that Galway were the better side. It gnawed at her that Cork had let victory slip through their hands.

“It hurt the most because it was the first final I lost as a player,’’ she explained. “I’ll never forget the devastation. At the time you think it’s like a death. You put so much effort in and you are totally focused on the All-Ireland and trying to win it and you are raging hot favourites...