Anthony Daly: Have Cork lost their Munster mojo? PS: GAA must stop pairing quarter finals

Clare again showed the resolve which has been the hallmark of this side.

Dublin and Cork supporters, on the town end terrace at Semple Stadium during the All-Ireland Hurling Championship quarter-final. Picture: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

I don’t like double-headers for All-Ireland quarter-finals. To me, it just doesn’t work. How can it when the majority of crowd supporting the teams in the first game get up and head home as soon as that match concludes? As well as sucking the atmosphere and energy from the stadium, what message does it transmit towards the occasion? It’s loud and clear. Not much.

I wasn’t surprised to see the huge Cork crowd, especially on the town end terrace, disappear by 3pm. I saw something similar two years ago when hordes of their supporters began streaming out of Thurles as soon as Galway beat them in the opening quarter-final. They were sick that day after losing by one point but, for the second time in three years, the third-last game in the hurling championship held no interest or appeal for most of the Cork crowd.