Michael Moynihan: In the knife-edge referendum with Galway, Kingston and Cork spoil their own ballots

Some of the Cork players who came up the motorway on the team bus will hardly make that journey again. At the final whistle in Thurles a few of them lingered a couple of extra minutes on the field

Left counting the cost: Cork’s Damien Cahalane walks off the field at Semple Stadium dejected at defeat to Galway. Pic: INPHO/James Crombie

Every game is a referendum in and of itself, of course. Saturday’s was no different. The ballot paper can be exhausting, if not exhaustive, with qualitative propositions stretching into the distance.

Munster v Leinster: which is better? Player or manager: who’s more influential? Thurles or Croke Park: which is the superior venue?