MAYO MADE HISTORY this evening by defeating All-Ireland champions Cork and getting back to Croke Park for a first All-Ireland final in 10 years.
It was a terrific contest, with Mayo just barely shading the win by two points, to set up a date with Dublin in three weeks.
Mayo’s last All-Ireland final appearance in 2007 ended in heartbreak at the hands of Cork, but Frank Browne’s charges were full value for their victory this evening against the reigning champions.
Cora Staunton was in typically scintillating form this evening, pocketing 1-09 in Kingspan Breffni.
A four-time All-Ireland winner, Staunton has fought endlessly to get her county back to an All-Ireland decider. She contemplated finishing her inter-county career at the outset of this season, before making the decision to commit to a 23rd consecutive season with Mayo.
Tonight’s result marks a crowning achievement in her already stellar career, but she is already looking to the next step, as she prepares to head back to Crok Park once again.
Speaking to TG4 while receiving her player-of-the-match award, she said:
“I’m shattered at the moment. What a game, it was really tense from start to finish. Fair credit to Cork, they’re a team we aspired to beat for the last 10 years. Massive respect to a lot of the girls on the team.
“To win by a couple of points in an All-Ireland semi-final and get back to Croke Park again is massive. We’ll enjoy the next hour or two but we’ll have to concentrate on Dublin in a couple of weeks time.
“We knew in the Connacht final against Galway that we didn’t perform and I think Galway – Mayo derbies have a life of their own. I suppose we’ve worked really hard since then and really upped training in the last six or seven weeks.
I’m delighted for the girls in the team, especially the younger girls that maybe never got a chance to play in Croke Park on All-Ireland final day. That’s why I stuck around, I’ve a lot of good friends in the team that never got to experience that and I’m delighted that in three teams they’ll get to experience it.
“We’ll settle down. I’ve won in Croke Park and lost in Croke Park, it’s brilliant to win an All-Ireland there, it’s heartbreaking to lose one. We’ll have to put the head down from Monday and work really hard.”
Cork have been worthy champions throughout their last decade of dominance, and their feat of winning 11 All-Ireland titles in 12 years is an exceptional achievement.
But the night belongs to Mayo, and there were joyous scenes after the final whistle.
Of course, there was heartache for Cork. Staunton went over to her marker Bríd Stack to commiserate with her after the game.
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