Winning the All-Ireland via the Backdoor

1st Jul 2004

Comfort at the Cross

All is not lost. Far from it. Its been four days now and things will have settled down around the county. Some people might have considered it a bad weekend for Cork but while GAA heads hung low on Sunday night Cork City FC players and fans returned from Sweden with a historic victory over soccer giants Malmo having defeated them 3-1 at home and 1-0 away. A comforting hand in times of woe for cork sports fans.

Pat Dolan's Rebel Army have brought Cork to the attention of Europe - only six months before we become the European Capital of Culture. What an achievement. Sunday's credit must go to another Cork effort: Corkman Justin McCarthy and his tremendous skill in leading his players to their victory on Sunday.

Hero Kearney: Click here for Citynet's match report

In years gone by agonisingly losing a Munster Final would mean another 10 month wait for another shot at an All-Ireland for Cork. Thankfully this wait is no longer the case and Cork will ball on to the qualifiers with formidable experience. While Waterford will not play again for some time Cork fans can look forward to another titanic battle against semi-final losers Tipperary.

We do not begrudge Waterford their victory - their fans while hard to understand are a decent bunch and we suspect because of their victory in 2002 did not feel the need to over-taunt traumatised Cork supporters.

Mullane: a genuine langer

In fact apr'