From Chill to Thrill: a summer of change for Cork

After Cork beat Kilkenny in the All-Ireland quarter-final last month, manager Jimmy Barry-Murphy eventually made his way to the tunnel leading to the Semple Stadium dressing-rooms.

Supporters in red and white were hanging over the walls calling him by name, and when the Cork manager saluted them with a raised fist, they went wild. Why not? A couple of months ago Cork were in the doldrums, relegated and rudderless. Next Sunday they play in an All-Ireland final and a ticket for that game is as rare on Leeside as a banker’s tear.

On the face of it the turnaround looks dramatic. Take a step back and it looks little short of miraculous. After Cork lost the relegation play-off to Clare in extra time, the statistics made for grim reading: the Banner had created 53 scoring chances in 90 minutes and had converted 31 of those: more than one every three minutes.