Matthew Twomey's accidental coaching career reaches pinnacle

The number of messages and in particular, the geographical spread of them, meant a lot to Matthew Twomey.

They also hinted at genuine happiness for an immensely likeable individual, even if his Cork team ruthlessly ended the fairytale run of Waterford, who probably had the support of every other county in Ireland, in the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland senior camogie final.

Behind the ready smile and quick wit lies a thick layer steel, however. That is appropriate, of course, as along with his brother Tomás, John O'Rahilly and Mick Roche, he runs the steel fabrication and galvanising company his late father, Matt co-founded, Irish Pioneer Works.

In a practical sense, it stood out as the pressure mounted following a poor performance in the Very League Division 1 final against Galway, a subsequent defeat by Waterford in the Munster Championship and then another loss, to Galway again, in the opening round of the All-Ireland campaign.

But Twomey knows real adversity. Understands the context. It is written on his face. Or on his head, to be absolutely accurate, where the evidence of the operation to remove a brain tumour when he was 19 is plainly visible.

Having to give up playing at such a young age, when combined with the physical scars of surgery that saved his life, left mental wounds that took some time to heal. Eventually, mentoring and improving players brought succour, even if it could never completely fill the void.

After a lengthy unbroken period at a variety of levels at Douglas and two stints under Paudie Murray with Cork’s senior camogie squad, that unforeseen fork in the road as a teenager has led Twomey to tonight’s 2023 PwC Camogie All-Stars banquet at Croke Park, where he will be presented with the Manager of the Year