MOSTLY HURLING:Last Sunday Cork looked like they wanted to win the game more than Tipperary, writes JOHN ALLEN

CORK HURLERS produced a magnificent team performance last Sunday in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Psychologically, they had set the foundation for this result in their league game in April. On that Sunday they sowed seeds of doubt in their Tipperary counterparts. Pádraig Maher was, repeatedly, exposed by Aisake Ó hAilpín. He came away from Cork that day knowing he wasn’t able to deal with the rangy Corkman. The Cork number 14 knew that, given enough ball, he could do damage when it mattered.

In that same league game Tipp were never allowed to dictate the pace. Cork targeted that game as one of the two most important in the league series (the Kilkenny game being the other one). Allowing Tipp any mental advantage could have disastrous consequences with a championship game between the sides in the offing. I felt fairly sure leaving the park that day that Cork would have too much resolve for their opponents on championship Sunday.

Last Sunday, they wanted, and needed, to win more than Tipp did. End of, as they say.

They won all the personal duels. Their senior players played as well as they ever have. They performed with a ferocious intensity all through. Dónal Óg Cusack’s puck outs were masterful. The two Ó hAilpín’s silenced the critics. The much criticised forward line scored three goals. Cork don’t do goals, remember? This was a top class team performance.

On the other hand, Tipperary, deep down, thought they would get a hard game but were always going to win. What dangerous intellectual territory to be in.

Are they as inept as they looked?

Of course not.

Can they improve?

Undoubtedly.

Why did they play so poorly?

Well, they thought they were going to win and they began the game well enough, but dropped their intensity levels to about 80 per cent half way through the first half and never succeeded in firing up those levels again.

Their forwards were the main culprits and not just for failing to score enough. Well, yes for that too, but mainly for not defending. They allowed the Cork backs to storm up the field time after time. The Cork forwards, on the other hand, hunted in packs until the final whistle.

The Tipp forwards hoped that someone else would do it. I have the highest of respect for Shane McGrath but on Sunday he wasn’t at his best.

Is there a question of the management and trainers timing their day of peaking for the big game incorrectly?

The gamble of playing Brian O’Meara didn’t work. They were also slow in making changes. All in all a bad day at the office.

Barry Kelly, overall, handled the game well. Why didn’t he allow Aisake’s first goal though? The resultant penalty was expertly placed by the ever improving Patrick Horgan.

The new penalty rule needs a bit of amending, in my opinion. The goalkeeper should be allowed to move off his line. The striker of the sliotar, most of the time, is nearer the 13-metre line when he unleashes his shot. Surely this isn’t fair on the netminder. The alternative would be to ensure the shot can’t be struck from inside the 20-metre line.

Galway will have to improve if they are to trouble the Kilkenny citadel. Their wayward shooting from distance in the first half against Wexford must have been a source of annoyance for the management and fans. They are a work in progress, and they will have to make better use of their potential trump card, Joe Canning. Kilkenny are not shuddering in their helmets yet.

The Waterford supporters have a busy long weekend ahead. What are the chances of a Cork-Waterford final in both codes? We’ll know on Monday evening.

Waterford are probably at a similar stage to that of the Cork team. They have a mix of the young, the not so young, the old and the quite old. But we saw the return from that blend last Sunday.

Will Waterford try to use a one-man (John Mullane) full-forward line and hope he will achieve as much as Aisake Ó hAilpín?

Wexford were much more competitive last weekend than was anticipated.

Can Clare up their performance from their underwhelming league final showing?

Do their chances rest on a couple of young guys, from the likes of Pat Donnellan, Nicky O’Connell, John Conlon, and possibly Darach Honan, having outstanding games?

In their league final there was a marked lack of physicality in their play. The question is, will Clare be competitive enough at midfield and in the half-forward line. This Banner team are at the early stages of their development. Their under-21 team of last year will need time to develop, hopefully, into top class senior players.

Ger O’Loughlin will need time to pull together a team that might bring Clare back to the top of the hurling world. But for now he will probably have to grit his teeth as he heads down the sideline on Monday to wish his old friend Davy the best of luck in the final.

This time last year Dublin were almost being considered contenders. They need to do a bit of convincing on Sunday if they are to remain in that bracket. But they should overcome Laois and earn the right to be the first warm-up act for Kilkenny, in this, their year of even more glory.