Linda Mellerick on Cork's triumph at Croke Park: Stylish, confident, brave and measured
Aoife Healy had a vital role to play in marking Beth Carton. Picture: INPHO/Bryan Keane
IT'S rare you get to enjoy an All-Ireland final as a manager and team.
Sunday was a day when Cork could bask in the glory of a dominated final. The victory was no more than they deserved after beating the All-Ireland champions Kilkenny, and their bogey team in recent years Galway, on route.
We predicted a comfortable win. I said on Saturday that if Cork clicked that Waterford could get smacked, and smacked they were. No one likes to see a team suffer a defeat like that in Croke Park, but Cork weren’t there for sentiment.
Waterford needed everything to go right for them. Losing Vikki Faulkner in the second minute was a huge blow and too unsettling for them to cope with. She was predicted to give whomever she picked up a tough afternoon. In her absence, both Katrina Mackey and Amy O’Connor ran riot.
While Waterford didn’t put eight behind the ball, they played Beth Carton too deep, out around the middle.
A mistake.
Her impact was minimal thanks in no small part to the excellent work of Aoife Healy. I mentioned in my preview that Waterford needed to push Carton up and they had to find a way to get a supply into her through Orla Hickey, Lorraine Bray, and Abby Flynn.
They didn’t do that. Cork dominated the middle third.
But from a Waterford perspective was it a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. Cork had just too many stars for them to cope with.
Rachel Walsh was given the job of marking Laura Treacy. Strange to see a centre-forward go shoulder-to-shoulder with the centre-back. Creating opportunities or scoring wasn’t on Walsh’s radar, just stopping Treacy.
Beth became somewhat disturbed herself. You’d put your house on her scoring that penalty but that’s what Croke Park can do to you.
Cork were comfortable with their nine-point halftime lead. The game was over, we could all see that, but it became unbearable for Waterford five minutes after the restart.
A hat-trick by captain Amy O’Connor inside five minutes. What are dreams made of? Captaining Cork to an Ireland title and scoring a hat-trick in the process. Build the monument now.
Cork’s management could enjoy the second half.
Waterford didn’t have the speed; they didn’t have the depth of good hurlers that Cork had. We knew that coming into the game. The only question beforehand was whether Cork would turn up and show what they were capable of. I had a feeling they would.
They wanted this one so badly and I felt the shackles were off having beaten the two counties already mentioned.
They enjoyed it. And it showed.
While Amy will get the plaudits, what about the unselfish play of Katrina Mackey?
Two goals she had a direct hand in after drawing three and four defenders each time. Her first pass to Sorcha McCartan on 25 which was nicely finished signalled the end of Waterford’s challenge.
All of Cork put their shoulder to the wheel, all were stylish, all were confident, all were measured and brave in their approach. That all comes with experience and confidence.
They would have been forgiven if they had started to throw the ball around and show off a bit as the second half wore on. They didn’t though. They stuck to their game plan, worked hard, tracked back and literally snuffed out any Waterford attack. No sentiment today.
Cork’s inside line scored 4-10, 4-5 from play. Orlaith Cahalane came on and made it 4-6.
Imagine how Waterford must have felt, 44 minutes in when trailing by 4-10 to 0-6 to see Cliona Healy, Orla Cronin and Ashling Thompson enter the fray. All threw their weight around, Thompson on a lot of ball.
Hannah Looney was outstanding from start to finish, her runs forwards were massive in that opening half and she flipped to play a more defensive role in the second half, each time driving out and forward with the ball.
For the neutral, they are possibly lamenting that it was a poor final.
It wasn’t a poor final. Waterford should have gone for it more, but Cork were class.
App?
