DES CAHILL expressed his disappointment after Cork fans appeared to outnumber their Dublin counterparts at Croke Park in the All-Ireland hurling semi-final.
Pat Ryan’s side booked their place in the Liam MacCarthy Cup decider for the second year in a row with a 20-point drubbing of the Dubs.
Croke Park was packed to the rafters for the mouth-watering battle, with Dublin fans galvanised by their stunning victory over Limerick.
However, supporters of the Rebels appeared to outnumber their rivals.
This apparent uneven ratio irked Des Cahill, who said Niall O Ceallachain’s men deserved better.
The Cuala man said: “Fair play to the #Cork hurling fans-incredible support today. I’ve never seen anything like it! A great team to follow.
“But I was disappointed for the #Dublin hurlers – they deserved much bigger support.
“I also felt they battled to the end with great honesty and determination.“
Going into Saturday, Dublin’s route to the last four was aided by avoiding the concession of goals.
However, they could not hold back the Rebels, as Alan Connolly netted a hat-trick alongside goals from Brian Hayes and Tim O’Mahony (two each).
It will further enhance Cork’s status as favourites to go all the way, with one of Tipperary or Kilkenny facing them in the decider.
And boss Ryan revealed that goals are the Leesiders’ priority.
Ryan said: “We’re targeting goals all the time and we’re targeting fast starts all the time. That’s the goal and that’s the game. Our lads were really clinical today.
“I thought we left an awful lot of scores behind us for points but that’s me being a bit critical, maybe over-critical. They’re some things we’ll go after.
“But delighted with our fellas. For us to get back into a final shows the character and strength of commitment to the jersey that the lads have.”
The inside forward trio of Patrick Horgan, Alan Connolly, and Brian Hayes proved to be too much to handle.
When asked if he could have provided extra protection to his full-backs, Dubs boss Ó Ceallacháin said: “It’s a fair question when you concede seven goals.
“I’ll tell you straight out that we intentionally didn’t.
“I’ve been proven wrong now so I can be fairly criticised, but the way we see it is there’s just no point in going with a zonal back six against a team like Cork.
“You won’t concede seven goals so you won’t see a scenario like that, but you will lose the game.
“Is it a risky set-up? It absolutely is. Should I be criticised? Absolutely. It didn’t work. They were very sharp and they were excellent.
“But what I would say is with the alternative, you won’t lose by 20 points but you will lose the game.”
