A tradition like no other, if the truth be told. The summer of intercounty Gaelic games on television came to an end with RTÉ’s marathon coverage of the All-Ireland camogie championship finals. And, if each of the hurling and men’s and women’s football finals had provided their drama in recent weeks, the finale to it all didn’t disappoint those of us seated on our sofas.Galway and Cork do drama. Simple as. And if presenter Damian Lawlor may have been blessed to be in the company of pundits Anne Marie Hayes, with her maroon dress leaving no doubts as to her Galway loyalties, and Anna Geary, in her red and white of Cork, then the third wise woman Ursula Jacob, in her Wexford colours, provided a neutral view.As Lawlor jokingly observed after listening to the very good insights provided by Hayes and Geary of the respective teams when looking for an actual prediction: “It’d be a waste of time with the two of them, I’m going straight to you Ursula ...”The great thing about all three women is their ability not to mince words and Jacob – just like in her own playing days – again rose to the occasion: “It could be a moment of magic that defines who wins this game, both teams bring out the best in each other. But for some reason I just think Cathal Murray [the Galway manager] will have something up his sleeve that could get them over the line ... Galway, when it comes down to it, know how to win a final.”The rights and wrongs of such predictions come down to how the match on the field actually goes and Ger Canning’s co-commentator Elaine Aylward proved prescient in her pre-match opinion that the pitch down below them could well become a “zone of attrition”.The match was less than 10 minutes old when Elaine had to use similar words in observing how the players were hurtling as well as hurling into each other. “It’s a huge, huge area of attrition,” she said.Canning would add to the imagery too when, finally, a stoppage in play was required to treat the wounded. Cork's Saoirse McCarthy and Laura Hayes celebrate All-Ireland win. Photograph: Tom Maher/Inpho “For a moment there, there were as many medics on the field as players,” said the veteran commentator of the body count that needed medical attention.“It’s attritional, isn’t it?” he asked Aylward, who could of course have replied that she’d actually predicted such things but instead responded: “Absolutely ... everyone will be glad of the break to take a little bit of a breather.”[ Ciarán Murphy: The GAA owes more to women than it realisesOpens in new window ]When referee Gavin Donegan’s halftime whistle came, it wasn’t just the players who walked off the pitch needing some respite it seemed.Lawlor, for one, wondered about what he described as the “thunderous hits” that had been part and parcel of the first half, which Galway led narrowly at the break.Jacob, as we know, doesn’t mince her words. “We all want a physical edge to the game and we were crying out for that for many years,” she said, then added: “But there’s a couple of over-the-top tackles.”Identifying a couple of “head-high, dangerous” encounters, Jacob singled out Galway’s Carrie Dolan and felt she was “very lucky to be still on the pitch”.Galway's Carrie Dolan and Millie Condon of Cork. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho The question Lawlor felt needed answering was where would Cork get their scores from?Such answers came from the Cork players with Saoirse McCarthy and Orlaith Cahalane finding goals in a six-minute spell midway through the second half in beating Galway goalkeeper Sarah Healy for her first concessions of any goals through the entire championship. It set up the grandstand finish that had Healy run up almost the length of the pitch for a last-gasp free which needed to be goaled.“There’s 28 bodies between her and the goal,” said Canning of the enormity of the task that faced Healy who, it transpired, couldn’t perform miracles.Canning didn’t beat about the bush in observing of Cork’s win: “That’s atonement for last year.”And when the cameras cut back down to Lawlor and his pundits by pitchside, it was only natural that he first sought the reactions of former Cork great Geary who, for a change, didn’t have much to say at that point.“I’m not speechless too often,” she said, before managing. “But I’m delighted for them.”