Women's Football All-Ireland Final:Tomorrow's senior final is testimony to the youthfulness of the Mayo team that sensationally broke through eight years ago to win its first All-Ireland.
Half of the side had played in (and strangely, lost) that year's minor All-Ireland, but the defeat of an established Waterford team was the beginning of an era of domination that brought four All-Irelands in five years - the fifth agonisingly lost at the death to Laois in 2001.
For seven of that team to have rebuilt their challenge over the past four years is a remarkable achievement and one that poses a significant obstacle to a great Cork team, like the county's camogie players a fortnight ago, on the verge of three-in-a-row.
Widely acknowledged to have played a major role in this is manager Frank Browne, who made the unusual journey from county hurling manager a year ago to taking charge of the county's women's footballers.
Cork, led by the inspirational Juliet Murphy, have cruised through the All-Ireland stages handing out heavy beatings to Laois and Dublin.
Mayo and Galway met in a titanic collision in the provincial final with Mayo edging it by 3-16 to 3-15 after extra time.
Cork play with such physical intensity that it's no surprise to see Browne switch two of his younger, lighter talents, Lisa Cafferkey and Noelle Tierney, to the bench and replace them with two of the 1999 team, Marcella Heffernan and Diane O'Hora.
The reliance on the formidable Cora Staunton, averaging around 10 points a match, is a danger for Mayo in comparison to Cork's more even scoring threat, with Valerie Mulcahy and Deirdre O'Reilly having good seasons.
Full forward Mary O'Connor's injury is a blow to Cork, but they have the resources and balance throughout the team to buck the recent unproductive trend for the county in All-Ireland finals.
CORK: E Harte; C Walsh, A Walsh, R Buckley; L Barrett, B Stack, B Corkery; J Murphy, N Kelly; G O'Flynn, L McMahon, N Cleary; V Mulcahy, M O'Connor, D O'Reilly.
MAYO: Y Byrne; S McGing, H Lohan, N O'Shea; M Heffernan, M Carter, C McGing; C Egan, C O'Hara; F McHale, C Staunton, C McDermott; A Herbert, C Heffernan, D O'Hora.
Tomorrow, Croke Park
JFC - Kilkenny v London
Throw-in - Noon
IFC - Wexford v Leitrim
Throw-in - 2pm
SFC - Cork v Mayo
Throw-in - 4pm
(All matches live on TG4)
