GAA All-Ireland SHC Semi-finals: So far this has been a sensational semi-final. You could have plugged New York into the closing minutes of Sunday's drawn match and saved all that inconvenience. Then we had a very modern row over whether bookies should be allowed pay players to advertise their services. And now this afternoon, we refocus on the Guinness All-Ireland hurling semi-final.

This isn't a cut-and-dried replay like two years ago when all Tipperary had to do was prevent Wexford scoring goals, which they duly did. John Conran's team have been hurling well since the Leinster final disappointment and they have been scoring well from out the field.

The problem arises from the fact that Wexford played so well last Sunday that even to stand still - and reproduce that display - is asking an awful lot. The accuracy of their shooting meant they had a far more economical attack than Cork - a scenario few would have seen coming before the throw-in.

There are also the little advantages that no longer apply. Last week Cork hadn't played in six weeks and had only just returned to training. Now they've a match under their belt and a further couple of sessions completed. The Munster champions hadn't played the new Croke Park surface either and that has been remedied.

There are two indicators from the drawn match as to how this afternoon might develop. Firstly, Cork's devastating spell in the second half that turned a six-point deficit into a five-point lead illustrated the team at its best. Ronan Curran began to dominate the ball and establish the half-back platform on which the team rely.

They began to run at their opponents and Wexford looked like pessimists before the match feared they might.

Clearly, if Cork hit that sort of stride for a longer spell, they will win handsomely.

But there was also the Cork of the final 10 minutes.

With the match at their mercy they shot a sequence of wides. Not only did this keep the scoreboard within their opponents' grasp but it greatly helped morale and to their credit Wexford finished out the match. Was Cork's finale - and the other wayward shooting - a product of being unfamiliar with the ground or of lack of conviction?

Nonetheless, Cork have ample room for improvement and that frequently defines replays. It may have been unreliable in the Galway-Donegal football quarter-final but Galway's improvement was being taken on trust rather than on any evidence from the drawn match. In this instance Cork have shown their current capabilities, albeit briefly.

It isn't strictly true to say Wexford can't improve. They will struggle to attain the same accuracy they demonstrated in the first half of the drawn match but the defence can get tighter. Darragh Ryan did well but Joe Deane still scored. Doc O'Connor struggled on Setanta Ó hAilpín, while Declan Ruth seemed curiously indecisive in going for the ball.

Conran will also want to do something about the influence of Seán Ó hAilpín, who was the most consistent of the Cork half backs and had his best match since his car-crash injuries of two years ago.

Adrian Fenlon isn't that used to life on the wing and whereas he hit some fine ball up the line his marker was free to do the same.

Assuming that Cork won't be as wasteful as they were with frees this afternoon, the area of most concern to manager Donal O'Grady has to be his full-back line, who have now conceded six goals in two matches. Four years ago when winning the All-Ireland the entire Cork defence didn't concede a single goal from play.

A reprise of the first match is probably unlikely but it's not too much to hope for a competitive 70 minutes. The balance, though, has tipped in Cork's direction.