Cora wants to avoid the heartbreak of All-Ireland final defeat
NEXT Sunday Cora Staunton will be attempting to win her fifth All-Ireland medal when Mayo clash with Dublin in the All-Ireland ladies senior football championship final.
Ever since she appeared in her first final way back in 1999, Staunton has been the best ladies Gaelic footballer in the country. Indeed, it is doubtful we ever will see any player having the impact she has had on the sport again.
Speaking ahead of the All-Ireland final on Sunday, Staunton talked about Mayo’s last championship game against Dublin, their campaign this year, and Sunday’s final.
She said: “This year we didn’t perform at all against Galway. We certainly were very disappointed afterwards. After that defeat the Kildare game was always going to be a tricky game to get over because we were always expected to win. We went into the last two games as underdogs. We were under no illusion that we were going to have to work really hard against Donegal, and again against Cork. We’re stepping up game-on-game, but the next day is going to be another huge step up.
“I knew going in against Cork that it was a big game for me. I’ve had battles with Bríd Stack in the past and maybe she’s won some of those battles, certainly in the league final last year. So I knew I owed it to myself to have a good game. I knew the team would need me to have a good game. But when the pressure is on you react a little bit better. And as I said, you just don’t know when your last game with Mayo is going to be. It might be on Sunday - you just don’t know. Injury or anything could happen. So you go out and try to perform to the best of your ability,
“Defeat to Dublin last year in the semi-final was difficult to take at the time. But I’m quite lucky, I normally go back with the club. Carnacon takes priority so I don’t really get too much time to reflect on it.
“It wasn’t until Carnacon got knocked out in the middle of November that I sat down and reflected on the defeat. Looking back, obviously that night in Cavan was a sickener. The first 20 minutes of that game absolutely killed us. We conceded two goals very quickly and we were always trying to pull back that lead. We did pull it back to draw level, but we just couldn’t get that extra score. Maybe we didn’t have that bit of cuteness we needed. We’re a young team, bar a few of the older girls. It was probably just a little bit of inexperience.
“But these are the defeats you learn from. It was heartbreaking, and when you’re a bit older and you’re not sure what step to take next it’s that bit harder to take. That night I didn’t know if I’d be back putting on the Mayo jersey again. It took a couple of months to decide that. But that was probably the reason we came back. We were so close that evening and those defeats drive you on for the following year. If you’re really far away you’re not going to be as motivated to come back.”
Excellent team
The Mayo star went on to say that Dublin are a very good team and should have beaten Cork in at least two of the last four finals.
“This is their fourth All-Ireland final in a row they’re going into, and some of those finals were very close. They probably should have beaten Cork in at least two of them, last year being one of them.
“So they’re an excellent team. We haven’t seen that much of them bar our league match in Croke Park. They’re under a new manager and it’s kind of ironic that their manager is Mick Bohan, who was manager when we beat them in 2003. He’s obviously an excellent manager. They’re in excellent condition. They’re very physical, very fit, so it’ll be evenly matched in that regard.
“It’s going to be a different test to Cork, because I think they’re probably at a level with a bit more physicality than Cork. They have a lot of pace. I do see them setting up even more defensively than Cork did, so from that point of view, as a forward line, we’re going to need to be very patient. We have a lot of speed there that we hope we can use, and target certain players with the speed that we have, especially within our forward line.
“I think the Croke Park experience early on in the year will work to our advantage. They’re used to being there on All-Ireland final day so it’s nothing new to them, but it’ll be new to us.
“At least the Croke Park factor is gone out of it for us. Okay, it’s new for the girls to be in an All-Ireland final but it’s not new for them to be in Croke Park.
“So I think that’s going to work in our favour, that we don’t have to worry about girls playing for the first time in Croke Park.
“It is going to be a big occasion. They’re probably going to deal with the occasion better than us, bar myself and Yvonne, Martha, Fiona (McHale) and Michelle McGing. It’s our job just to advise the girls, settle their nerves for this week and let them embrace it, but not get too worked up by it.
“They’re a good bunch of girls and you want them to go out and enjoy All-Ireland final day. They fly by, and as I said to them, you only enjoy them if you win them. It’s the worst place in the world to lose.
“The only thing you want to do is win. I look back at 2001 and 2007 and I can tell you more things about those finals than I can about the ones I won. It’s a heartbreak that you certainly don’t want to repeat or your team-mates to have to go through. Let’s hope it won’t happen next Sunday.”