Cork 1-11 Sligo 0-8:In the immediate aftermath this seemed the ideal afternoon for Cork, their six-point winning margin neither flattering them nor exciting us - just the sort of casual build-up a team would wish for ahead of an All-Ireland semi-final against Meath.
But 24 hours later, when word came through that James Masters would miss the rest of the season with a broken jaw, it seemed Cork's win had come with a definite disadvantage.
Still the championship's highest scorer, Masters - who sustained the injury in a late challenge and was replaced three minutes from time - did not enjoy a particularly good day here, adding just 0-4 to the 3-23 he brought to Croke Park on Saturday. But his absence for the Meath challenge could prove costly, especially given his talent for the big stage.
As for Sligo, their leaving of Croke Park could only have brought that horrible feeling that they had failed - quite miserably - to play to their potential.
So 32 years after they last paraded here as Connacht champions Sligo are once again hounded by regret. It could be another 32 years before they return, and that's a long time to ponder the shortcomings of this effort.
Naturally, none of this will bother Cork. For manager Billy Morgan, who has been keeping a low profile after matches of late, it was, presumably, the calm before the storm. Cork did enough to win, but more subtly impressive was the apparent ease with which they handled Sligo, indicating they can engage a higher gear when needed.
As a game it proved brutally predictable. Sligo started brightly but their naivety soon showed, and before long they were overwhelmed physically and tactically.
"Very disappointed," admitted their manager Tommy Breheny. "We just didn't play to our potential out there.
"Too many things weren't up to scratch. Like our conviction in front of goal. We knocked a lot of balls into their goalie's hands. Hit a lot of wides as well. And probably lost the battle in the middle third, the battle for breaking ball, which is a crucial area.
"We don't have a big huge physical team . . . Some of the players were dragged all over the place out there, and David Kelly did get a little isolated at times. That certainly wasn't the intention. But the Cork half backs were doing a lot of attacking, and pushing our lads up the field. They found it difficult to get their shape back."
Breheny was right about one thing: the mysterious stratagem of appointing Kelly as main target man failed hopelessly. Dwarfed by the Cork full-back line, Kelly ended up increasingly isolated, and scoreless. He could have brought his desert-island discs.
Sligo managed only 0-2 in the first half - points from John McPartland and Seán Davey. Meanwhile, Cork ambled along at their own pace, providing the only highlight of the first half on 17 minutes when a Masters free was nicely flicked on by Michael Cussen into the path of John Miskella, who sweetly finished it to the net.
Masters was otherwise quiet. In fact Donncha O'Connor looked livelier in the other corner, hitting 0-3 and contributing more from general play. Two Cork replacements also scored, Conor McCarthy and Kevin O'Sullivan - reassuring for the manager. Cork also shot 11 wides, and though on the scoreboard Sligo were still in it at the break - 1-3 to 0-2 - there was no way back.
Sligo were at their best in defence, spurred on by Ross Donovan and Johnny Davey, but at midfield they were brushed aside, Nicholas Murphy delivering a man-of-the-match performance and comprehensively out-smarting Eamonn O'Hara, who at 32 just did not have the legs for the game.
"It did take us a while to get going," said Murphy, with fresh stitching above his left eyebrow. "We knew it wasn't going exactly to plan, but we were still four points up at half-time, and happy enough. It's all about progressing in the championship, and that's exactly what we're doing."
So Cork are headed for their third consecutive All-Ireland semi-final.
Rarely has a team come through a quarter-final looking more composed.
CORK: 1 A Quirke; 2 M Shields, 3 G Canty, 4 K O'Connor; 5 N O'Leary, 6 G Spillane, 7 A Lynch; 8 D Kavanagh, 9 N Murphy; 10 J Miskella (1-0), 11 P O'Neill (0-1), 12 K McMahon (0-1); 13 J Masters (0-4, two frees), 14 M Cussen, 15 D O'Connor (0-3, two frees). Subs: 24 C McCarthy (0-1) for Miskella (65 mins), 25 F Goold for McMahon (65 mins), 28 K O'Sullivan (0-1) for Masters (69 mins), 27 B Collins for Murphy (71 mins).
SLIGO: 1 P Greene; 2 C Harrison, 3 N McGuire, 4 R Donovan; 5 P McGovern, 6 M McNamara, 7 J Davey; 8 E O'Hara (0-1), 9 K Quinn; 10 B Curran, 11 M Breheny (0-3, one free), 12 B Egan; 13 D Kelly, 15 J McPartland (0-1), 14 S Davey (0-2). Subs: 24 K Sweeney for McPartland (54 mins), 23 P Doohan for Curran (56 mins), 22 G McGowen for S Davey (63 mins), 20 K Gallagher (0-1) for J Davey (69 mins).
YELLOW CARDS: Cork: D Kavanagh (61 mins), N O'Leary (64 mins); Sligo: R Donovan (53 mins), B Egan (62 mins). RED CARDS: None.
Referee: P McEnaney (Monaghan).
