Heartbreaking? Yes. One that got away? Maybe. But Cork hurlers made huge strides and room for more

BY JOHNNY CAROLAN

THE chances are that, over the last few days, you’ll have read and heard a lot about what Clare got right in the All-Ireland final and what Cork got wrong.

For instance, one national newspaper, in assessing the performances of all of those who got game-time in Croke Park on Sunday, awarded the Clare players an average of 7.3 and the Cork players an average of 6.3. This, in a game that was won by a single point over 90 minutes of action, when a last-gap levelling free could easily have been awarded.

Going by the ratings, one might think that Cork had far more potential than Clare and under-performed to a notable degree; but, beforehand, nobody was excepting anything other than a close game. Instead, it’s a case of history being written by the winners.

To be clear, Cork did play below their best but, if they had managed to draw or even sneak a win, Clare would have had more than a few areas that would look back on, wishing they had done better. It’s what happens in finals.

Something that doesn’t often happen in finals is that the best players do the best things but, in conjuring a spell-binding 1-4 after a quiet first half, Clare captain Tony Kelly came up with a match-winning turn. It may take a few weeks, months or even years for us Cork people to fully appreciate that goal but it truly was one of the best to ever grace Croke Park, or any field where Gaelic games have taken place.

Could Cork have defended it better? Of course they could, just like they might have worked more goal opportunities. Every granular details is analysed. For those wishing to focus on the positive, the character shown in staying with Clare even when Cork were never in control of the game after the early first-half flurry was immense. And that is what should give encouragement as 2024 fades away and 2025 comes into view.

The recent record for beaten All-Ireland hurling finalists coming back to win the following year is not great – Kilkenny in 2011 are the last example of that – but history need not be a barrier. A young Cork side will take the education that comes from reaching a final and put it to good use, while the injection of U20 All-Ireland winners from 2023 will provide further depth to a talented squad.

Put it this way – after the defeat to Clare at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh at the end of April, who realistically thought that Cork would be in a position to lament losing an All-Ireland final by a point? The response produced was immense.

Over the space of a fortnight, Cork played Limerick and Clare at Croke Park and, in aggregate terms, scored one more point than they conceded. No other county in the country would be able to manage that. From a position where Cork couldn’t get out of Munster in 2023, it underlines the strides made and there is the potential for more.

At Monday evening’s homecoming at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork manager Pat Ryan revealed that, among the supportive text messages he received was one from Conor Counihan. The former football boss reminded Ryan that, having disappointingly lost the 2009 All-Ireland, then Cork came back to win in 2010.

That, incidentally, bridged a 20-year gap, which is what the hurlers will look to do in 2025.