Cork’s 2005 camogie title success was one of the county’s sweetest ever victories 

EIGHTEEN years ago this week, Cork won the O’Duffy Cup by beating eternal rivals Tipperary 1-17 to 1-13 in the All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship final at Croke Park.

It was another step towards the ‘Rebel Treble’ as the hurlers won the Liam McCarthy Cup earlier that month and the ladies footballers were waiting for their All-Ireland final against Galway.

That’s just one reason as to why Cork felt like the epicentre of Irish sports that year. Roy Keane was still with Manchester United and Munster were starting a season that would accumulate in victory over Biarritz in the Heineken Cup final. 

Cork City were about to win the League of Ireland Premier Division title, and the Rebel Army went agonisingly close to winning the double.

It seemed like everything was happening, all at once in Cork. 

The city was even the European Capital of Culture in 2005 and almost every corner of the county was making a statement.

The victory over Tipperary is its own story, especially with the history between the two counties at the beginning of the decade.

It started in 2002 when Cork won the O’Duffy Cup by defeating the Premier County 4-9 to 1-9 in the final at Croke Park. 

It was a hammering by a group that were about to face heartbreak.

Tipperary got their revenge in 2003 and they beat Cork in 2004 to retain the trophy. 

It was back to back defeats and the Premier County were aiming for a hat-trick when they travelled up the country for the 2005 final.

While all of this was going on, Cork were nurturing a group of players that were after breaking through from underage development squads. 

Two members of the panel were Anna Geary and Rena Buckley, with the pair All-Ireland minor winners after the county’s victory over Galway in the 2003 final at O’Moore Park in Laois.

The Rebels were called a team that ‘nobody gave a chance to’ and Cork got it over the line rather comfortably in the end. 

They scored 3-12 to 1-04 and proved everyone wrong, with this acting as the perfect graduation ceremony for a talented panel.

Their progression up to the senior ranks was only natural. What was truly special was how the process was realised, with a talented group at underage level proving themselves at the highest level by becoming winners. 

They did that, with their victory over Tipperary the start of something truly special as it led to six All-Irelands in 11 seasons.

The team that played in the 2005 final against Tipperary was: A Murray; R Buckley, R Holland, A O'Regan; A Geary, M O'Connor, B Corkery; V Harris, R Moloney; U O'Donoghue, G O'Connor, J O'Leary; E Dillon, S Dunlea, E Burke.

The game started with a shoot-out, and the two teams were level twice in the opening nine minutes. 

Tipperary then took control of the midfield and that allowed them to create chances for their forwards. 

It was 0-6 to 0-2 in favour of the Premier County with 16 minutes gone, and Cork were very much in trouble.

The Rebels recovered and got the deficit back to one point and that sense of momentum was shattered when a shot went through the legs of goalkeeper Aoife Murray and a green flag went up. 

Three Tipperary points ended the half and the Premier County went into the break leading 1-10 to 0-8.

Cork were five points down and dealt with this by changing things around. 

Briege Corkery was placed alongside Jennifer O'Connor and Rachel Moloney was put in as a centre forward, and this was the catalyst for the Rebels comeback.

When the gap between two teams was just two points at the start of the second half, Cork missed three big goal chances. 

Two attempts landed in the hands of goalkeeper Jovita Delaney and this burst of activity around the square finished with Sinead Nealon intercepting a shot.

The green flag came from an Amanda O'Regan free that was dropped on the goal-line. 

That put Cork in front and Tipperary captain Deirdre Hughes equalised. 

Emer Dillon retaliated with two quick scores for her county, and slowly the Rebels were edging clear.

A free from Jennifer O'Leary ended the game and crowned Cork All-Ireland Senior Camogie champions for 2005.

Only some of the players on the panel could let loose, others had to play Galway in two weeks’ time.

Angela Walsh and Corkery were two with dual commitments and they finished off their inter-county season with another All-Ireland medal.

The Rebel Treble was complete, with one month seeing three of the four senior titles on offer arrive on Leeside. 

It was an historic achievement, made even better by what Cork City and Munster went onto achieve. 

It was possibly the greatest ever season for one of the greatest ever cities for producing top level sport stars.

Whatever about the bigger picture, the only thing that mattered to the people of Leeside on September 18th 2005 was the simple fact that Cork were All-Ireland champions and they stopped Tipperary’s bid for three in a row.