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After being in the last six All-Ireland camogie finals and winning three of those, it may have been difficult to change a winning formula. Getting to so many successive finals prove that Cork camogie has clearly been in a golden age. But this season saw a lot of change in the Cork camp. After a very difficult start, forward Sorcha McCartan credited a "freshness" that the new players brought into the senior camogie set up during the season just gone. "I think they brought a bit of a freshness in terms of maybe there was less of a tense atmosphere. Not that the girls that left were tense, but I suppose they were around for so long that they brought a bit of seriousness to it. "They understood the magnitude of trouble that we were in. We had one win on the board at the end of May. That's really unheard of for a Cork camogie team. "But I think the younger girls always stuck at it, never complained, never were wondering why we weren’t winning, they were just training as hard as they could and really reaped the rewards at the end. "There are huge kudos as well to the girls that maybe didn’t come that we are not talking about because they are the ones that drove the standards in training. "I’m marking Aoife Barrett or Maedhbh de Búrca every night at training and they are the ones driving us on and putting us under pressure every night and they are probably not even getting game time." This strength in depth paid dividends as Cork got over their slump and picked up in the business end of another season which ended at the very pinnacle. McCartan was the focal point for Cork as they secured their 31st All-Ireland senior camogie title. The St. Finbarr’s forward was player of the match in the final, adding four points from play in front of a record crowd at Croke Park to round out an already impressive Championship tally. Just crowned PwC GPA Women’s Player of the Month, McCartan remembers the final’s physicality well. "I think we were expecting it because of the 2025 final," she revealed. "We came out a bit naive that day and they hit us for sixes for the first half hour. When we got in at half time and regrouped it changed, but we knew what we were going to get. "It took us a little while to adjust. In Croke Park it is either sink or swim, but we were expecting it especially this year." While the big hits marked the start of the game, a free in the dying seconds for Galway had Cork players, staff and fans’ hearts in mouths. "I was not on the pitch at this point. I went off just before with a finger injury. I think I was standing in the corridor underneath the Hogan Stand. I thought I was going to get sick. I couldn’t watch. "Then once I heard 'The Banks of the Lee' playing I ran out onto the pitch and did not even need to look. "My God you would be nervy, but I never doubted that if the ball went low we wouldn't have dealt with it. "It was the moments before that that were more nerve-wracking. When they were pushing up the pitch and coming in waves that I think we struggled a bit." Cork got through that struggle to put another O’Duffy Cup in the trophy cabinet and another homecoming for the winners. "Coming back on the rooftop bus on the Monday was brilliant craic, and arriving at Grand Parade and seeing the tons of people that came out was brilliant. The support was massive and it was just some buzz coming down the road." In the other code, Roscommon’s Saoirse Wynne won the Women’s Player of the Month for football. An immense defensive display in a sweeper role in the All-Ireland Intermediate Championship Football final saw Wynne inspire the Rossies to a convincing 2-12 to 0-06 victory over Fermanagh. Wynne’s selfless efforts contributed massively to Roscommon lifting the trophy for the first time in 21 years, with another player of the match performance. "I got the award on the day, but it could have been any one of the girls. We said this year that it is great we are not relying on just one player. It is always such a team performance. "All the girls are so focused on their job. I am so lucky to have such a great panel around me." Roscommon went into the changing room at half time after powering to a 2-07 to 0-02 lead. A nigh on perfect display had to be backed up with a strong second half performance and it was a basic sporting mantra that kept them focused, got the win, and hoisted them back up to senior football next year. "To be honest we ignored the scoreline and said it is 0-00 to 0-00 and it means nothing because in ladies’ football it can change so quickly. "We knew that Fermanagh was a very good outfit and we couldn’t be complacent. We had to forget about the score ad keep the work rate up and that is what the girls did. "I think it is such an achievement and so exciting to get back up to senior football, but we don’t want to just be there, we want to compete at that level. "It is so encouraging that we have such a good underage setup coming up behind us and there are so many girls in the county that didn’t play this year and they are unreal. "Hopefully now everyone comes back next year, and we can go on to do well in senior as well."