AFTER Cork sunk his side’s hopes of All-Ireland SHC glory, Dublin boss Niall Ó Ceallacháin admitted the red wave will be hard to break.
The Rebels remain odds-on favourites to land the Liam MacCarthy Cup on Sunday week after their seven-goal blitz of the Dubs.
Alan Connolly claimed man-of-the-match honours after hitting a hat-trick in Saturday’s semi-final. Brian Hayes and Tim O’Mahony found the net twice.
During his first season in the hotseat, Ó Ceallacháin was one step away from steering Dublin to a first All-Ireland final appearance since 1961. But a rampant Cork outfit had other ideas.
The Sky Blues chief said: “They’re going to take some beating. That’s as good a team performance from a sharpness perspective that I’ve seen in a long, long time.
“We couldn’t live with their goals. We couldn’t live with their pace and power inside. Did Alan Connolly get three? And that’s not on the lad that was marking him.
“They were breaking the line and they had the composure and presence of mind in tight scenarios to be really aware of who was outside and just pop the ball outside. They did that extremely well. They were quality goals.”
Returning from a four-week lay-off since their penalty shootout win over Limerick in the Munster final, there were no signs of rust in the Cork ranks.
It was the first time since 2006 that the Leesiders backed up a provincial title triumph by advancing to an All-Ireland SHC decider.
Pat Ryan’s side will now look to go one better than in 2024, when an extra-time final defeat to Clare saw them fail to end Cork’s longest-ever wait for hurling’s biggest prize.
Ó Ceallacháin added: “I don’t want to do Cork a disservice by over-hyping them. Every game is different.
“But what I will say is that was by far the best hurling performance over 75 minutes that I’ve seen this year by a long way.”
Dublin secured their place in the knockout stages of the Championship with wins over Offaly, Wexford and Antrim.
Defeats to Kilkenny and Galway then cost them a place in a second straight Leinster final.
But after easing past Kildare in the All-Ireland preliminary quarter- finals, the Dubs defied the dismissal of captain Chris Crummey to record a seismic upset that ended Limerick’s season.
Ó Ceallacháin said: “Is there a difference of 20 points between us and the top team in Ireland? I don’t think there is.
“But the reality as we leave here is that’s kind of what we’re looking at. Is there more in us? There absolutely is. And that experience for a few lads will probably serve them well.
“But we were never in this for a two-year thing or a three-year thing or a five-year thing. We’re just very disappointed.”
It has been a hectic year for Ó Ceallacháin, who was still juggling club and county commitments when he guided Na Fianna to All-Ireland success back in January at the expense of Cork side Sarsfields.
Asked about his aspirations for 2026, he said: “No idea. Listen, we need a bit of time now.
“We were planning on being back here in a fortnight’s time. I don’t know what the future holds.”
