With just minutes remaining in last year's All-Ireland semi-final, Cork looked to be returning to an All-Ireland final, a stage they have become so familiar with over the last 20 years.
Meath scored two goals in the closing stages to force extra-time. The first from Eimear Scally, the second converted from the penalty spot by Stacey Grimes. Cork never recovered and the Royals kicked on in the extra period to secure their spot in the All-Ireland final.
The rest is history.
"That defeat was extremely heart-breaking, it was an out of body experience," said PWC GPA player of the month for June, Doireann O'Sullivan.
"I actually came on for my sister [Ciara] that day, she broke her shoulder. She was in hospital at that stage, and she was told basically that the match was over and that we had won so she was delighted."
"But then someone had to break the news to her that with six or seven minutes to go we were home and hosed and then just fell apart. Credit where credit is due Meath went on and won the All-Ireland."
Bouncing back is just what O'Sullivan does. An injury hit 2021 campaign has been firmly put in the rear-view mirror.
O'Sullivan notched 1-05 against Donegal and 1-07 against Waterford already this season and has benefitted from an individual training programme which allows her to maximise her time on the pitch.
"I have run into trouble into the last couple of years in terms of injury. My body has broken down a couple of times when I try to do all the pitch sessions. I was apprehensive and unsure about coming back this year just because I was sick of being on the side-line," said O'Sullivan.
"I just sat down with the strength and conditioning coaches at the start of the year and came up with a plan."
"They were happy for me to do two pitch sessions a week instead of three, the other one would be a gym class or a conditioning session in the gym. The girls have been extremely understanding with that because ideally everyone should be on the pitch as much as they can."
This is O'Sullivan's tenth season in the inter-county jersey. The Mourneabbey native has represented her county at the highest level since the age of 16. Despite her tender years, she has gained a wealth of experience.
"When I started off, we'd maybe have physios at championship matches or the week leading up to an All-Ireland final. Now we have physios at every session and there might be two physios there."
"We have a nutritionist, a kit man and a strength and conditioning coach, so they are things that we would never have had. I remember when we were with Eamonn Ryan your weights would be [lifting] your own body weight or your team-mate’s body weight, so you’d just be lifting each other, pushing each other, boxing each other, that was the strength and conditioning back in 2012."
"Now it is more professional, we are given programmes, we do group gym sessions, we do individual gym sessions and you notice very quickly that you’ll start falling behind and you won’t be contributing to the team if you are not doing the stuff off the pitch, like diet, sleep and recovery," said O'Sullivan.
While progress has been made, there are still some glaring issues that continue to affect the women's game. Expenses still don't equal those of their male counterparts. O'Sullivan has spoken strongly in the past about these issues.
"It definitely has improved, but in saying that I saw that Kerry captain Anna Galvin was saying she was paying €1700 a month coming down from Dublin to go training."
"Government grants are in now which is great, but there is still a discrepancy between the amount that our male counterparts are getting. I'm not 100% sure, but I think we are getting about €800, and they are getting €1300, so while there has been improvement, we can still close the gap."
Kerry have been the focus of some attention recently, with their women's team having only limited access to the new centre of excellence (above).
"I actually think its hugely disrespectful to female players to be honest. It doesn't sit well with me at all. I just think that we are letting ourselves down a small bit there. I think there is a simple solution, it shouldn’t be a question. It just seems ridiculous.
"Trying to explain to a young girl that they are not allowed train there, but their male counterparts are it just doesn’t add up. I think we’ve come a long way but seeing that on social media… I won’t go as far to say that it was upsetting but it’s a small bit embarrassing that their photos are used on the outside of the building, but they are not allowed in the building. It doesn’t make sense," said O'Sullivan.
On the field it's Mayo who are in the way for Cork returning to another All-Ireland semi-final.
"Our year is over if we don't get over Mayo on Saturday. It is three games to an All-Ireland final, that’s the goal we set ourselves at the start of the year. We haven’t played Mayo in a couple of years in knockout championship, the last time we met them it didn’t go too well for us."
"It's do or die."
