Cork v Donegal

Tuesday 15th of August was one to remember. A packed house in Croke Park, a fantastic atmosphere and the best minor football team in Ireland on show. Cork played their hearts out against a Donegal team who are no strangers to All Ireland success at the minor grade.
The game started at a ferocious pace with both teams trading scores. Cork had the benefit of the goals in the first half though, and managed to get a 1-2 to 0-3 advantage. Shane Walsh from St. Colmans Macroom, who has been in superb form throughout the season, got the first goal of the game after 15 minutes. This score gave Cork a massive lift and they began to dominate. The half time scoreline read Cork 1-5 Donegal 0-6.
Donegal came out all guns blazing at the start of the second half and played some lovely controlled football. They scored a lovely goal of their own and began to get on top. After a string of Donegal points the gap was reduced to a single point. It was all Cork had to do at this point, so what did they do? They got brave. They didn't resort to the cynical play that we so often see in big games, instead they played attacking football which is what we have all come to admire from Cork this last few years. This bravery gave them a deserved six point win in the end.
Every single player in that Cork team is a credit to their families and all the people who helped them to get to this point. The likes of Brian Hayes, who captained the side with distinction, Shane Walsh, Mark Sugrue, Colm Walsh and Tom O'Neill would have shown all the kids that they deserve to be role models. That they are just ordinary lads like you and I who worked their socks off and had a dream of winning an All Ireland on the 15th of August.
It's great to see then what Cork football is producing at the moment and with players like Ian Maguire, who was their best player in last years final and their captain that day, coming through, the future is bright for Cork. The minor All Ireland was a great day for all involved and remember they will never forget that day putting on the red jersey in front of 80,000 people. We must also remember to thank the Cork minor team that won in 2015. Those lads also left their mark on the GAA world and showed us that it can be done, and that is to play football the right way.