Fear of not performing fired up Corkery
To an extent, anyway.
The St Val’s defender admitted in the run-up to Sunday’s football showpiece that the regrets of having underperformed against the Slaneysiders would never wash away in their entirety but claiming the Brendan Martin Cup for a seventh time isn’t inconsiderable consolation.
“I suppose you’ll always have the regret of not performing,” said the 25-year old wing-back and five-time All Star. “I don’t think we performed to our best and Wexford had an absolutely outstanding day.
“I wouldn’t even take from their win but we did under-perform against them and it was just a bit unfortunate. That’s the way things go and this one softens the blow a bit.”
Cork’s ability to maintain their levels of motivation and excellence are a constant source of awe and envy in other counties, especially given the manner in which they bounced back from an All-Ireland quarter-final defeat by Tyrone in 2010 to return to the top table of the game. Two days ago, that defeat in Banagher was credited time and again for the drive which took seven of the players to the pinnacle of the Ladies’ game for the seventh time and even Corkery, who was abroad travelling at the time, draws from the defeat for fuel.
“Yeah, I wasn’t there in 2010 for the Banagher game. But the way the girls talked about the disgust of losing, I suppose that drove me on as well and it is a huge factor because performing on the day is the main thing — never lose under-performing.”
Cork rarely hit the absolute heights of which they are capable against Kerry but much of that was down to the obstinacy and physicality of their Munster neighbours who injected considerable oomph into proceedings.
Though never over-the-top or ugly, it was a considerable physical challenge for the champions and yet it was Kerry’s captain Bernie Breen who picked up the worst injury on the day and in strange circumstances.
There were just five minutes played when the Laune Rangers midfielder felt a recurrence of an old shoulder injury that impacted on her and Kerry’s ability to take the game to the raging hot favourites.
“I’d say it was one of my own players I was in contact with,” said Breen. “It just popped or something. I don’t know what it is at the moment, I’ll probably get a scan later on. I can’t lift it over the head or out in front or anything.”
Breen revealed that she had been unable to catch or even pass the ball properly such was the discomfort she was in and yet manager William O’Sullivan admitted after the game that taking her off would have had a fatal effect on his team’s morale.
At first, instinct kicked in and she managed to catch the very next kick-out but she was, by her own estimate, playing at no more than 50 to 60% of her capacity. “At least I was on the field, at least it didn’t happen a few weeks ago. But look, you just play through it. These things happen to everyone.”
Such perspective was challenged by the tears that threatened to pour down her face at the time and it is impossible not to empathise with someone who had been playing football for 18 years before getting her first shot at a senior All-Ireland final.
If anyone deserves a second shot at the biggest prize of all it is Breen but Kerry’s first priority will be to square away the pain of defeat before refocusing their sights on taking that last, crucial step.
“I thought maybe we could do it,” said the 28-year old. “They beat us by six points in the Munster final. I thought we would push on from there but obviously they pushed on as well. They say you have to lose one to win one so hopefully we’ll be back next year again. I think there is a great team there. We are still very young, we’ll just have to train harder I suppose, work harder to win an All-Ireland. That’s it.”
Meanwhile, the senior decider proved a ratings winner for TG4, with an average audience of 190,000 watching the game at Croke Park.
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