LAST week Sorcha McCartan talked about her doubts when initially linking up with the Cork team at the start of last season.
If there were any doubts among her team-mates though, they must have disappeared after the Castlewellan girl’s performance in Cork's All-Ireland Senior Championship final win over Waterford in Croke Park on Sunday.
It included 1-1 from play, winning three more frees in the first half that her captain Amy O’Connor converted and then an assist in one of O’Connor’s three goals at the start of the second half.
She isn’t the Cork prototype, but manager Matthew Twomey still sees something in her. On Sunday evening after the All-Ireland win, he opened a little to what that was.
"Sorcha has been a great addition to our set-up. She offers us something different that we didn't have and she has settled in very well," Twomey said.
“She works hard and has an eye for a score and is a good character too. She deserved her goal and it was an important score at the time."
McCartan had been substituted after 46 minutes and got a high five from Twomey as she entered the subs area. But she was back on the pitch as soon as the final whistle sounded and had discarded her boots to dance in the rain.
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“I am actually speechless and that doesn’t happen too often. I can’t really describe the feeling at the moment. I am so grateful to be here with this bunch of girls," McCartan said.
“It is a big day for me and it is a big day for these girls because they have come back after losing two league finals and two All-Ireland finals in a row.
“Last year I sat on the ground over there where the Waterford girls were after the game. I suppose you have to learn from what went right and also what we got wrong here last year.
“I think we did that over the course of the year. We weren’t pitch perfect every day, we did have our problems at times, like losing a good lead in the league final.”
Cork lost four games this season and they came one after the other in late spring; a league game and then a league final to Galway, a Munster quarter-final to Waterford and then a first round championship game to Galway again.
“Beating Galway in the (All-Ireland) semi-final was a huge monkey off our backs. We had beaten Kilkenny in Croke Park in the quarter-final and we were determined to come back here today to get the win.
“We were concentrating on performance here today. That is what got us past Kilkenny and Galway and we knew if we got a performance here today, we would be very difficult to beat.”
Reflecting on the first half that saw her so involved in the Cork attacking moves, McCartan suggested that the opening 10 minutes were difficult.
“We had a few teething problems, but we kept doing what we were meant to do and eventually we began to reap the rewards.
“Katrina (Mackey) did the donkey work for the goal and I just flicked it in. She has been doing that all year, going on runs, taking players on and then laying the ball off. I was just lucky to be in the right place to take advantage this time.”
Also involved in Amy O’Connor’s second goal early in the second half, McCartan said she responded to a call from O’Connor.
“I heard her shout “just kick it” and I did. She was unbelievable today, really on fire. Someone is just after saying that she took 10 shots at goal and scored 3-7. Like that is just incredible in any game, never mind an All-Ireland final when you are captain.
“She is an unbelievable athlete and an unbelievable girl and no-one deserves it more than Amy O’Connor.”
Sorcha McCartan has completed a family double after her dad Gregory collected an All-Ireland senior medal with Down in their last title win in 1994. Back then Gregory also picked up an Allstar.
His daughter’s performance on Sunday should see her at least get a nomination this year.
