The areas which will decide tomorrow’s All-Ireland semi-final

Cork showed remarkable intensity as they upped their game from the Munster final

If Cork win this game, they will have to take a tactical approach into it and set themselves up to keep scoring down.

In hurling there’s a cycle every 20 years or so in the middle section of the decade. “New teams” surface and hold sway until they fade and the big guns boom again.

Apart from the early stages, Limerick played second fiddle to a well-drilled Cork outfit in the first-half but took over after the break, with their defence on top for the crucial last ten minutes.

If Clare get into a rhythm they are difficult to contain, as Laois found last Saturday in Cusack Park

Many question marks surrounded both teams before the Leinster hurling final.

The second half decided this contest in Nowlan Park.

On top for so long, has the wheel finally turned for Kilkenny’s hurlers? All will be revealed by 9pm tonight. They established a hurling empire but great empires decay from within.

1. There was an extremely strong breeze blowing towards the city goal in Limerick yesterday.