Are you watching, Florintino Perez? It may have taken Real Madrid almost half a century and zillions of euro to win La Decima, but the Cork ladies footballers showed how it’s done when they won their 10th All-Ireland in 11 years.
Cork itself showed its appreciation of their feat on Monday night.
Hundreds turned out on a balmy September evening to welcome home the players after their second successive All-Ireland win over the Dubs - this time on a scoreline of 0-12 to 0-10 - in front of a record crowd for a women’s sports event in Europe this year of 31,083.
The team completed their second five-in-a-row inside 11 years with a powerful early second-half display that saw them inch clear of their Liffeyside rivals who never managed to close the gap thanks to some stout Cork defending.
Together with their coach, Eamon Ryan, the Cork girls arrived back on Leeside about 8.30pm, disembarking from the team bus and mounting the podium on the South Mall to the strains of Tina Turner’s Simply the Best morphing into Queen’s We are the Champions.
And there were loud cheers and more than a few screams of delight when captain Ciara O’Sullivan raised the Brendan Martin Cup high above her head as she paid tribute to the thousands of fans who had made the journey to Croke Park, and to the dedication of the panel.
“We wouldn’t be here this evening if it wasn’t for the hard work that all the girls and particularly the girls who weren’t on the starting 15 - it’s very easy to go training when you know are you are going to be playing, but No 36 on the panel put in the same effort as No 1.”
There was loud and enthusiastic applause for all the players, but especially for veterans Rena Buckley and Briege Corkery who, with the win, collected their 10th All-Ireland football medal to add to the six they won for camogie to give them an incredible 16 Celtic Crosses.
The win moves Buckley and Corkery ahead of Dublin camogie player Kathleen Mills, who won the last of her 15 All-Ireland medals some 54 years ago. Coach Eamon Ryan paid tribute to both players and their teammates for their continuing humility.
“Over the past 12 years I’ve been blessed to be working, not so much with great footballers as brilliant people - they are genuine and hard working, and although some of them nearly rattle when they walk with all the medals, they don’t have an ounce of ‘eiri in airde’ about them.”
Joining them on 10 All-Ireland football medals were Deirdre O’Reilly, Brid Stack, Geraldine O’Flynn and Valerie Mulcahy, who were there when Cork won their first All-Ireland in 2005 and have made successful returns to Croke Park every year since save for 2010.
