Allen within one victory of creating his own legacy

WAS Sunday the day that John Allen emerged from the shadow of Donal O’Grady, last year’s All-Ireland-winning Cork senior hurling manager?

A question I heard yesterday after Cork’s semi-final win over Clare in Croke Park, which led immediately into another - did O’Grady cast a shadow over Allen at all?

Let’s deal with the latter first. Unquestionably, the answer is yes. Three years ago, O’Grady took over a staggering side which had just put huge additional pressure on itself with the players’ strike.