Man-of-the-match Goulding pays tribute to teammates

Daniel Goulding's impressive nine-point haul in yesterday's All-Ireland SFC final win over Down helped him earn the coveted man-of-the-match award award.

The Cork corner forward was in fine scoring form all season, but he reserved a Championship best for the big day at Croke Park, beating his eight-point tally from a qualifier win over Cavan in July.

Goulding, a student at Cork IT, finished the Championship as Cork's top scorer with 1-43 overall.

He was third in the list of Championship top scorers for 2010, five points behind Bernard Brogan of Dublin and six adrift of Kildare's John Doyle who finished top of the pile.

Goulding was shortlisted for the All-Ireland final's man-of-the-match award, alongside team-mates Michael Shields and Donncha O'Connor.

"We had an awful lot of knocks over the years, and it's just great to be on top for once," he said after receiving his award at the post-match banquet in the Burlington Hotel last night.

And the 24-year-old said it was a proud moment for his club Eire Og, who also had Ciaran Sheehan in the victorious Cork side.

"There's a couple on the squad, and hopefully a couple more on the way. It's great for the club (to take this award), but just for the 35 fellas and the management today was the perfect ending.

"I was followed fast enough by Ciaran and hopefully young (minor player) Kevin Hallissey will be up there quickly as well, so it's all good for my club."

Goulding was just four-years-old when Cork last claimed the Sam Maguire Cup in 1990, and he was fulsome in his praise of his playing colleagues and the Conor Counihan-led management team for bridging that gap.

"I can't speak highly enough of the 35 guys and the management that we trooped through it all over the last couple of years," he said.

"It's just an absolutely great feeling to come out of it in the end with the fellas you have battled with for so long.

"We have been down for three years and finally we came out of it today and we were good enough (to win). It's just a tribute to all of those fellas there and the heart that they have."