Former Cork captain Fergal Ryan on 'holding your nerve' on All-Ireland final day

Cork’s 1999 All-Ireland winner Fergal Ryan is confident the Rebels can get over the line in the All-Ireland final tomorrow evening.

The Leesiders take on great rivals Tipperary in a mouthwatering contest at Croke Park with throw-in at 3.30pm. 

Having lost at this stage 12 months ago to Clare, Cork are determined not to slip up again and in the process end a 20-year wait to win the Liam MacCarthy trophy.

“There’s no doubt about it, Cork as a county have really embraced the team over the last few years,” the Blackrock chairman says.

There’s unbelievable excitement, no different to any other All-Ireland final, but there’s a sense that it has gone up another notch in the build-up to this one. 

"I was lucky enough to have won an All-Ireland. As a player, you look at it totally differently compared to a supporter. You don’t get to soak up the atmosphere beforehand because you are sheltered and rightly so.

“You focus on the game that’s in front of you and try and treat it as another game, a totally different view that a supporter would have. That’s how we treated it all those years ago.

“In an All-Ireland final, anything can happen. Tipperary aren’t going to roll over and let us take the trophy. I do believe we are the better team, but delivering a performance in a one-off game is a different story.” 

Ryan feels the loss to Clare in the All-Ireland final last year will benefit Cork this time around.

“The Cork management will probably have handled preparation for the final this year differently to last year,” the former Cork captain said.

“You always look to tweak a few things when you don’t win and you question yourself over the small things. 'Do we train differently, do we shelter the players differently going into the final' and so on. 

HURT

"The hurt of losing, they won’t want to go through that pain again. Cork are in a great position though this time. If they can get a display, I feel we have enough to win the game.

“It will be close, but Cork are a better team than Tipperary, not by miles though. 

It’s all about holding your nerve. The weather isn’t supposed to be great, how each team adapts to that will be interesting. 

"Last year, the weather couldn’t have been better. When we won in 1999, the weather was awful. It’s all on the day.” 

Alan Connolly is in top form going into tomorrow’s decider. The Blackrock player scored 3-2 in the 7-26 to 2-21 success over Dublin two weeks ago. Ryan knows the forward better than most.

X-FACTOR

“Alan is a very quiet and unassuming guy, nothing fazes him. He has that X-factor about him and that’s not building him up because ultimately the last day against Dublin, he was fantastic and got Player of the Match. Alan has an eye for goal in that full-forward line and you can say the same about Brian Hayes.

They have a great understanding and Alan is part of that trio in the full-forward line with Patrick Horgan, who is doing a lot of the hard work. 

“Hopefully the Liam MacCarthy trophy will be in the Rockies in the coming weeks and celebrate Alan’s involvement, Robbie Cotter’s involvement and of course Wayne Sherlock as a selector. 

"We are delighted and proud to have three Rockies helping Cork and please God we can get the job done against Tipperary, 20 years is too long of a gap.”