All-Ireland winning boss of this year's triumphant Cork camogie team Matthew Twomey won the prestigious Manager of the Year award at last night's PwC All-Stars in Croke Park.
It was a fantastic night for the squad that Twomey led to a first O'Duffy Cup in five years as eight rebels won All-Stars.
Amy O’Connor, Katrina Mackey, Hannah Looney, Libby Coppinger, Meabh Cahalane, Laura Treacy, Amy Lee and Saoirse McCarthy were all honoured for their excellent seasons at the cermony.
Waterford's Beth Carton scooped the PwC GPA Senior Camogie Player of the Year award after a superb campaign for the Deise at half-forward.
In September Douglas clubman Twomey announced that despite the success he had this year he would be stepping away from his role leaving the Cork managerial role vacant.
Now he has opened up on his decision to leave the job explaining the pressures that come with being Cork manager.
"We've now won 29 All-Ireland's, anyone who takes on the Cork camogie job, you're deemed a failure if you don't win it," he told Balls.ie.
"We ended up playing Kilkenny in Croke Park in the quarter-final. Everyone knows that Cork vs Kilkenny in the camogie is unbelievable but I was told the week before the game that if we lost it would be the first time in 45 years that Cork wouldn't have made the semi-final.
"That's your pressure.
"We had a dip during the year when we got beaten by Galway in the All-Ireland series, we were under pressure in every game after that."
Matthew Twomey was announced as the 2023 PwC Camogie Manager of the Year, recognising his outstanding leadership and achievements for the @CorkCamogie team 🙌 #PwCCamogieAllStars | @OfficialCamogie pic.twitter.com/zQ9rFOGXwj
— PwC Ireland (@PwCIreland) November 4, 2023
Matthew Twomey on decision to step away from rebels team
Twomey says it wasn't a hard decision to leave his position.
"I took on the manager's job for two years," he said.
"It's a massive commitment to make; family-wise and work-wise. I'd no problem making all the sacrifices but everyone else around me had to make out of my decision.
"They stood by me for the two years but I knew by March this year my time was up.
"From a camogie perspective its extremely hard because there's nobody that's going to be able to replace this team. C'est la Vie. I've memories with my family, kids, team, management, friends...it's been incredible."
Cork are yet to appoint a successor to Twomey.
SEE ALSO: Cork Camogie All-Star Explains Inspiration Behind Rowing Down The River Lee
