A tale of two Cork captains and their All-Ireland wins

The way both finals progressed, the odds on Cork winning an All-Ireland single (never mind a double) looked slim enough back in September. The camogie team trailed Kilkenny by five points at one stage, and the footballers faced an even higher mountain to climb when they fell 10 points behind Dublin with just 15 minutes to go.

Here we are, with a joint Cork award for September: captains Anna Geary and Briege Corkery who led their teams to all-but-impossible victories. For the camogie side, it ended what, in Cork terms, amounted to a drought. 2009 was the last time they had lifted the trophy, having won four in the previous five years. But a Wexford three-in-a-row, followed by Galway's triumph last year, left them impatient for another trip to Croke Park. Thanks to their 2-12 to 1-9 victory, "normal" service was resumed.

A heartbreaker for Kilkenny, whose last senior title dates back to 1994, their league success this year gives then renewed hope of ending that barren run. And they looked well on course when they took that five-point lead. But Cork then outscored them by 2-8 to 0-3 in the second half.

Class, composure and experience won out in the end: 11 of Cork’s starting line-up already had winners’ medals, so they were never going to panic.

Among them were the trio of Corkery, Angela Walsh and Rena Buckley, who turned up in Croke Park a fortnight later to attempt another double.

That 10-point deficit made a ninth All-Ireland title in 10 years seem a distant dream. Until they got down to work in the final 15 and left Dublin feeling like they had been lifted out of the stadium by a hurricane.

The extraordinary comeback featured goals from substitutes Rhona Ní Bhuachalla and Eimear Scally, just to prove the strength in depth of Cork’s panel, with player of the match Valerie Mulcahy contributing six points in all to the tally, Geraldine O’Flynn nabbing the winning score two minutes from time.

We have taken the captains’ route in choosing our winners, as representatives of teams that looked destined to leave Croker defeated but came back from the brink to win their county another double.

Corkery was our Sportswoman of the Year in 2005. A veteran now? Well, yes, if you consider 27 old. It gives you an idea how young she was when she began amassing medals. She, then, along with her camogie captain Geary are our Sportswomen of the Month for September.