GAA:After the near misses of recent years, Cork manager Conor Counihan spoke of his pride in the Rebel's panel after the county ended a 20-year wait to claim an All-Ireland football title.
Three points down and misfiring at half-time, Cork settled down following the introduction of skipper Graham Canty to edge out Down by the narrowest of margins.
Daniel Goulding, who kicked nine of his side’s 16 scores, and Donncha O'Connor found their range and Counihan’s side had the experience to keep Down at bay in a nerve-jangling finale.
“It says an awful lot about this team,” Counihan said after the final whistle.”There was an awful lot said about them, but they showed great courage and conviction over the years and now they’ve got their reward.
“I do hope other counties, the likes of Down will take heart and know that failure is only fuel for success. It’s a great day to be a Rebel!”
Canty, who sat out the entire first half as Counihan opted to keep the All Star defender in reserve, was understandably delighted to finally get his hands on the Sam Maguire.
“It feels great, I’m very honoured to be captain of a great bunch of lads,” he said afterwards.
There was no panic in the Cork dressing room at the interval, despite an indifferent opening 35 minutes, with Canty speaking of the need to focus on the job at hand.
“Things were pretty calm,” he explained. “Frank Hogan usually takes charge and Frank’s a very calm man. That calmness transfers to the players on the pitch.”