Cork calibre meets Cats hunger as tight camogie final clash expected

Cork v Kilkenny, Croke Park, Sunday, 4pm (Live RTÉ1)

Two traditional giants of the camogie world cross paths in the Liberty Insurance All-Ireland senior final less than an hour after doing so in the intermediate decider.

However, it is now 22 years since Kilkenny claimed the ultimate honours, when current manager Ann Downey was captain. That was their 12th title, all garnered in a golden period that began in 1974.

Downey was involved in each of them and is back in the fold in a bid to bridge a painfully long gap, having also been in charge when a very young team fell to tomorrow’s rivals Cork.

That makes six final defeats suffered by the Noresiders since 1994 and Cork have inflicted three of those.

In contrast to Kilkenny, the Rebelettes possess a spectacular pedigree on the big day. They will be competing in their 12th decider since 2002, and of the previous 11, have been successful in seven.

They are also pursuing a third title in a row. However, it is worth bearing in mind that they have failed to reach that landmark on five occasions since doing so for the third time in their history in 1972.

Only once did they falter at the final hurdle though, against Wexford in 2007.

Both Cork and Kilkenny came through extra time in their semi-finals at Semple Stadium. Kilkenny will feel that they should have put Galway away in regulation time, while Cork’s running game finally took its toll on a typically-unyielding Wexford in the last 10 minutes.

The Cats claimed the National League pennant at the beginning of May and appear to have found the right balance now.

Much like Cork, they will look to create space in attack and use their pace, but the test for them will be to neutralise Gemma O’Connor’s penchant for picking up so much possession as a sweeper/link player in her own half.

O’Connor is the game’s most prolific All Star winner and she is central to Cork’s meanness in defence and the fact that they are the highest scoring attack in this year’s championship.

As a battle between established calibre and massive hunger, this could be tight before exploding into life in the final quarter.

Don’t rule out a draw.