What goes around comes around...
BACK IN 2002, Galway faced Cork in Thurles. The Leesiders had most of their 1999 All-Ireland winning team in situ and were playing in their favourite venue, but they were in disarray. And Galway knew it.
“We knew if we got at them we could exploit the fact they were having problems,” says Cathal Moore, Galway wing-back that day. “But that became a watershed for Cork because they couldn’t go any lower – they were humiliated on the day really.
“It surprised us as much as it surprised them, though it was common knowledge that there were problems. Always when you have those problems in an opposing team, if you can get at them you’ll make those problems work for you.”
Cork managed a first-half goal through Joe Deane but were never in the hunt. They fell away slowly in the second half and lost 0-21 to 1-9. Diarmuid O’Sullivan was full-back and agrees the contest was over long before the final whistle.
“Without a doubt it was – the one thing with Galway down the years, if you give them a start at all they’re hard to claw back. We probably didn’t have the winning mentality to claw it back that we had in later years either.
“You’d always sense there was something missing, something not right, but at the back of your own mind you’d still believe, that with the fellas around you you’d all be able to pull it out and do your best come the championship. We felt we’d get an opportunity in the game, but we never did.”
Galway didn’t build on their win. Clare edged them out in a thrilling All-Ireland semi-final, and Moore adds that Cork weren’t the only side with off-field issues.
“We had a good setup at the time, we’d played in an All-Ireland final in 2001 and with Mike McNamara as a trainer we were always going to be fit.
“One of the main reasons we didn’t kick on that time, though, was that we lost John Connolly as a selector over the Alan Kerins football issue. John had brought a lot to the set-up, and that was a bigger blow than anything.”
Cork went on strike that winter and came back stronger. The two sides didn’t have to wait that long to meet again.
Three years later the roles were reversed. Cork were the team who’d played in the two previous All-Ireland finals, and they weren’t in a mood to be charitable to the newcomers.
“We’d played together a good few years at that stage while it was Galway’s first All-Ireland in a while,” says Cork’s Pat Mulcahy.
“Things will be a bit different tonight because in critical positions like full-back and full-forward we wouldn’t have the same experience we did four years ago. Galway probably have more experience in those areas now than we do. That wasn’t the case in 2005.”
Wing-back for the Tribesmen four years ago was David Collins.
“I’d agree with Pat. It was a first All-Ireland for a lot of lads. Conor Hayes had been building us up but we peaked against Kilkenny in the semi-final.
“In the final things let us down, and our performance on the day wasn’t good enough. We were coming in with great form and we had high expectations – we had no doubt at all in our minds that we were going to beat them.”
Cork were All-Ireland champions going into the ‘05 final, and their supporters were confident given Cork’s tradition in finals against Galway. Mulcahy says it’s different this year.
“I don’t detect that now, a lot of the older Cork lads have gone, there’s a new manager ... I would have thought Cork would always respect Galway but not fear them. The tables are turned this time around, and Galway will have more confidence going into this game than Cork.”
Collins says tradition doesn’t affect players’ attitudes in any case. “Okay, Cork had and still have a great advantage in terms of games won against us in the championship over the years, but regarding that final, it just didn’t happen for us on the day, sad to say.
“A player doesn’t think of tradition – it wouldn’t come into my mind at all, certainly to think ‘oh Jesus, they’ve beaten us 20 times over a hundred years’ or whatever. You give it your all on the day and if it doesn’t work then it doesn’t work.
“If Galway lay into Cork, go at a hundred miles an hour, I feel Cork will find it hard to live with them. Galway are going very well and I give them a high chance of winning.”
Mulcahy acknowledges that Galway have advantages this evening: “For Cork the challenge is to integrate younger and older players, and they haven’t had much opportunity to do so.
“The Offaly game they’d have been expected to win, while Galway have had two tough, high-profile games, so they’re battle-hardened and that’s a big help.”
For his part, Moore is more circumspect about his county’s chances.
“I’d sound a note of caution because Cork have been so quiet. All the focus has been on Galway and the Kilkenny and Clare matches.
“Adrian Cullinane is a big loss. We’d been lacking a settled backline and for once it looked like we had that. The other factor is that this group had Walsh Cup games in January and Leinster championship games in June, a month earlier than we’d usually play.
“I think that’ll stand to Galway where Cork missed out on league games due to the problems they had. I’d have good hopes because we have a big team, five or six six-footers, but Cork are very quiet and that can be dangerous.”
Diarmuid O’Sullivan weighs in with another perspective. “Galway gave Kilkenny a ferocious rattle for 50, 60 minutes, but Cork should have beaten Tipperary. They had the chances to win the game, and Offaly was an improvement, scoring 3-19. They’ll be on a high after that.
“It’s been part of Galway’s history since I’ve watched them, the question of whether they have it when push comes to shove. That won’t be answered until they win an All-Ireland.”
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