Only one time to cut a blackthorn stick

I HAD a fair hand in Cork losing the 1993 All-Ireland final to Derry. It was a grim, dogged affair and everyone’s mood seemed to be as foul as the weather. Amid the niggle, I threw a left hook at Enda Gormley.

Things were rapidly getting out of hand for referee Tommy Howard, and he decided the next transgressor would walk. Tony Davis committed an innocuous foul along the Hogan Stand sideline and was sent packing. It was still a final we could have won but thereafter we were always a kick of a ball off it. No breaks, but no worries I thought, there’s always next year.

In fact, there wasn’t. It was the last All-Ireland I played and Cork’s last for six years. They haven’t won one since. It’s hard to fathom; 20 years is a long time for a county where there’s an awful lot of football played.