CORK hit seventh heaven against Dublin on Saturday — but they’ll be glad of one or two of those goals against Tipperary in the final.
There’s no way they’re going to get seven goals like that again, and certainly not in two weeks.
From a Cork point of view, Pat Ryan said in his interview there were a few areas he wasn’t happy with — and I’m able to point them out myself.
Goalkeeper Patrick Collins gave four points to Dublin with four puckouts, wherever he found them. It was ridiculous stuff and he lashed one ball out over the line as well.
The wides that Shane Barrett had were cruel — he missed some handy scores.
Dublin won most of the ball coming down the right wing to Diarmuid Healy and Brian Hayes. The Dubs’ backs won most of those balls facing their opponent.
Cork are also going to go into the final with two corner-backs that I wouldn’t be happy with based on their performances — Niall O’Leary and Seán O’Donoghue — because Dublin still scored 2-21.
Nobody needs to remind Ryan of the pressure on him to win the All-Ireland and his Rebels are red-hot favourites.
But I would have sleepless nights thinking of those areas, and Liam Cahill will know how to hurt them when it all comes down to it on July 20.
It was no surprise that they produced it against Dublin on Saturday but Ryan has plenty of work to do in the next two weeks.
And at the end of the day, the surprise that Dublin produced against Limerick was one of the biggest shocks ever.
But they had no real preparation for what Cork were going to throw at them.
I hope they learn from Saturday and they tell Niall Ó Ceallacháin that his priority is to have a team ready for 2026 because next year is a huge opportunity for them.
This Kilkenny squad are clearly not untouchable and Wexford and Galway are down and out so they have a chance of coming through to be THE team in Leinster.
Conceding seven goals is a stark reality check for any team.
Cork probably surprised themselves at having seven goals that easy. It’s up to Ó Ceallacháin to lead now.
There’s plenty of former hurlers living in the Dublin area that have lived through it and gone through it from every county. So there’s an abundance of resources behind Dublin now.
It’s taken Cork 20 years to get to where they are now — and it took Limerick 45 years to get back since 1973.
Dublin have the youth and the resources and that’s a bigger advantage than most.
