ASHLING THOMPSON CHARGED towards a Sarah Healy puckout with nearly 24 minutes gone on Sunday.
Saoirse McCarthy had just drawn Cork level at 0-7 each, and with the ball arcing from the Canal End towards space near the Hogan side Thompson – with pace and athleticism to burn – was favourite to reach it first.
The Cork midfielder stuck up her hand. Unusually, the ball bounced out of her palm. She reacted quickly but fumbled. Galway forward Aoife Donohue wasn’t going to let two errors go uncompounded and used Thompson’s momentum against her, nudging her off the ball.
As Thompson fell, Galway’s Niamh McPeake stood over the sliotar and roll lifted repetitively, furiously. But it wouldn’t come up. Thompson had managed to trap the ball under her knee while at the same time, getting off the ground.
The show of strength became more impressive as she manoeuvred her way in front of a now-displaced McPeake, flicked the ball out with her foot, roll-lifted to hand and then went to run clear. Donohue, still at the scene, could only foul her to stop the escape. Thompson got back to her feet, again, and pumped her fist.
This was no key moment in the game, no turning point of note. From the free, Galway won the ball and worked their own free, from which they scored. The game was not won and lost in that ruck, but it told us a lot of what we need to know about Ashling Thompson and her impact on the 2024 All-Ireland senior camogie final.
She might make mistakes, she might be outnumbered, but she was never going to cede an inch. In that moment, and every other moment, she would not be denied. Whatever happened that day, she was going to show up with everything she had. Come the last whistle there would be nothing more of her to give.
And when that final blast came, Thompson threw off her helmet and dropped to the turf. Cork were back-to-back champions.
Relief. Satisfaction. Elation. Exhaustion.
Some 12 months earlier, Thompson also dropped to the ground at the end of the decider. Cork had hammered Waterford, Thompson coming off the bench for a cameo as she ramped up her return from an ACL injury. Yes, there was elation, but Sunday was different. A hard-fought win. A proper battle with a fully-fit Thompson at its heart.
This meant more.
Her sixth All-Ireland title was special.
The 34-year-old was simply immense throughout the 60-plus minutes. She was involved in numerous key plays — 20 definitive possessions split evenly across both halves — and also scored a superb point.
Her tour de force was recognised with the Player of the Match award later that night. There was little suspense during the silent seconds before Marty Morrissey read out her name.
Thompson has a presence. An aura, if you will.
She leads by example; sometimes with a quiet authority, other times striking and somewhat brash, but always a talismanic figure for Cork.
Her white boots must have covered every square yard of Croke Park on Sunday; those coupled with her black helmet and distinct tattoos making her easily identifiable.
The game was a little over a minute old when she took her first touch. Thompson gathered a handpass from her midfield partner Aoife Healy; took off on a trademark run and prepared to let fly before being fouled by Donohue. Saoirse McCarthy scored the subsequent free to put Cork 0-2 to 0-0 up.
She won another free in the fifth minute, taking the sliotar from Laura Treacy before evading Ailish O’Reilly.
Thompson was always an outlet, whether that be for a simple pop pass or for a powerful run through the middle. She hassled and hounded, always hungry for combat. She linked play deftly, her first touch controlled and her vision, awareness and execution excellent.
Always looking to do the right thing.
The conductor of the orchestra.
Or “like an NFL player,” as former Cork player Sarah O’Donovan told Off The Ball. “Taking hits, making hits. Like a jigsaw, picking pockets.”
The first of Thompson’s fine long deliveries came in the sixth minute, as she found Amy O’Connor in the corner. She repeated the trick half-an-hour later in the lead-up to Katrina Mackey’s disputed goal.
It began with an Amy Lee puck-out five minutes into the second half. Thompson gathered and ran at Galway, dropping the ball momentarily but recovering to turn back and arrow out to Hannah Looney. Looney fed Healy, who lost her footing and popped to her fellow midfielder. Thompson knew O’Connor’s run, so fired into space in the left-hand corner, leaving the inside forward to jink then sprint towards goal.
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There were more examples of progressive passing and exquisite cross-field balls; two in quick succession to Cliona Healy and Orlaith Cahalane in the first half, Cahalane levelling matters at 0-5 a-piece in the 18th minute from the latter.
Others didn’t come off, as Galway cut out decent deliveries to O’Connor and impact sub Sorcha McCartan, and one just beat Laura Hayes to skip over the sideline.
Thompson’s 32nd-minute point was timely and well taken. She raced off the shoulder of Mackey and fired over off her left from outside the D. She immediately dropped back to her position, high-fiving a team-mate en route as Cork hit the front for the first time since the 15th minute. They wouldn’t trail again.
Her most telling moments, perhaps, were in scraps for the ball, such as the above play from the 24th minute. There was another individual victory at the mid-point of the second half as Thompson emerged from a ruck with the ball in a similar position; she ran at goal but her attempted shot was hooked by Ciara Hickey in one of two missed opportunities. The other was a tame wide around the same juncture.
At times, the Milford player was overzealous while defending. She sometimes screams in opponents’ faces after winning rucks, Niamh Mallon on the receiving end on Sunday. She was shown a yellow card for throwing her hurley towards a Niamh Kilkenny shot. This was entirely ill-advised, and not the kind of crime one can get away with — with the evidence flying through the air for all to see. Carrie Dolan slotted the resulting free to make it 1-13 to 0-12 as Galway’s comeback gathered momentum.
She did show some clever game management, whether that be smart, subtle fouling or an exaggerated break for medical treatment to stem Galway’s flow as momentum swung their way.
While Thompson will see it as will to win, she was more than full-blooded at times down the stretch, but every team needs those players. She typically plays on the edge, with Annmarie Starr among those left aggrieved not to win a free.
Cork’s number eight celebrated all that went their way; passionately fist-pumping frees won when Kilkenny was deemed to have charged at her, and another after claiming the ball in ruck.
A 65th-minute chase encapsulated her heart and desire: having done her utmost to stop Donohue, she lost her hurley in the process, but continued to hound Orlaith McGrath and tried to block her without her stick.
As evident throughout, this is testament to her fitness and athleticism: the personal trainer can always get to where she needs to be to challenge or receive the ball.
Fittingly, Thompson was in another tangle when referee Liz Dempsey blew the final whistle.
Galway goalkeeper Healy had sent a long ball to Aine Keane. Thompson pressed and engaged her and was battling Keane and McPeake with all of her will; from the first moment to the last in the middle of everything — this most dramatic game’s central character.
