Half-time reality check sparks second half Cork surge

Laura Hayes revealed a blunt half-time question jolted Cork into life for the second half of the All-Ireland camogie final against Galway

Laura Hayes: "[Galway] brought it last year, and we probably weren’t ready for it, and we said we’re not going to get caught like that this year again." Pic: ©INPHO/Tom Maher

Laura Hayes was drinking it all in after Cork's victory over Galway in Sunday's All-Ireland camogie final. What a difference a year makes.

“I get emotional thinking about it because, of course there were doubts this year,” said the former player of the year. 

“Like, I’m telling you now, we were in the trenches at the start of the year, and for a team that’s so used to getting to finals, I’ve never been so excited and grateful for the build-up, and I just wanted to go out there and have this team let the shackles off.

“And I don’t think we did in the first half. And we were sitting in the dressing room at half-time, and like we were not even out of breath, and we were like, ‘What are we fucking doing?’ Right? And we just came out in the second half, and that was a Cork performance.” 

It was Hayes' brilliant point in the 33rd minute that drew them level, after defending champions Galway turned with a 0-9 to 0-7 advantage.

“They brought it last year, and we probably weren’t ready for it, and we said we’re not going to get caught like that this year again, and we were so up for this game.

“We just spoke about this year. And Gemma O’Connor said to us in the first round (of the group stages) against Galway (which Cork won), she said, ‘People are questioning our identity. Is the Cork camogie empire falling?’ 

“We built our own empire.”