'We will do everything to stop that from happening' - Saoirse McCarthy hopes Cork camogie learns from hurlers' loss

Cork’s Saoirse McCarthy is ready for their All-Ireland semi-final with Waterford. Pic: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne.

Saoirse McCarthy was a Cork hurling supporter on Sunday. She’s been that fallen red soldier on All-Ireland final day.

Her most recent experience of final heartbreak was 2022. Sunday at Croker was a reminder to never again visit that space.

“Feel so sorry for the boys and it is very hard to pick themselves up after this, but hopefully they will.

"It was very hard to watch as a Cork supporter, you want them to do well, and yeah, you look at them and you say, I really hope that doesn't happen to us and we will do everything in our power to stop that from happening,” said the three-in-a-row Camogie All-Star.

Unlike the men, the Cork women are chasing no famine-ending result. They are instead chasing a three-in-a-row of All-Irelands. To get back to their own concluding day, Waterford must be worked past this Saturday at UPMC Nowlan Park (5pm).

Following on from their 11-point League final win over Galway in April, Cork have been untouchable in the championship to date. Four outings, four facile wins.

Their smallest winning margin was nine points, their largest was 38. Fourteen goals across those four group strolls, and yet McCarthy speaks of a collective neither satisfied nor sated.

“We want to have a full 60-minute performance, we haven't had that yet. Played for 40 minutes, or thereabouts, but a full 60 minutes would be lovely.”

The game where they came closest, she digs out, was last year’s All-Ireland final triumph. And even within that, they were hit for a third quarter six-in-a-row as Galway pulled up level.

“A great game, Galway really put it up to us. We had to come out and really stand up to that test. It’s probably the biggest test we have had in the last couple of years.

“Galway came out of the traps and decided they weren't going to let us walk away with it. We reacted well to it, which is something I think we might have struggled with before.”

Sorcha McCartan, Clodagh Finn, and Meabh Cahalane came off the bench to play crucial roles at the end of that game, with half-forward McCarthy stating the panel depth has improved again in 2025.

“The competition for places is a really important factor for us, in that you know there is someone to take the jersey off you if you don't do your job. That competition really drives us and leads us to perform.”