Fast Cork hurling and it’s a match

SHOULD Cork win next Sunday’s Guinness All-Ireland hurling final, it would provide a fitting end to a remarkable campaign.

It can be described as such because the high professional events of last year raised serious questions about the immediate prospects for the team, who weren't rated very highly at the start of the season. And, an interesting parallel can be drawn with another inglorious chapter in Cork hurling in 1989, which was followed by an astonishing renewal one year later.

Fourteen years ago, Cork were held to a draw by Waterford in the Munster semi-final before losing the replay. At the time, I wrote that it marked the lowest point in the standard of Cork hurling in over two decades!