Lively Rebel attack has more to offer than Clare

OVERNIGHT, the elimination of Galway meant the race for the Liam McCarthy Cup took an unexpected turn because of the dramatic upsurge in Cork’s form, even if it was the dismissal of Donal Óg Cusack which largely inspired a remarkable second-half display in Semple Stadium last Saturday.

With no disrespect to either Wexford or Clare, effectively it means that the GAA All-Ireland SHC is now a three-horse race, with Kilkenny still best equipped to succeed, Tipperary rightly viewed as very serious challengers and Cork now back in the frame.

And, for Gerald McCarthy and his players, there is the tantalising prospect of an All-Ireland semi-final appearance against Kilkenny on August 10 and doing what Cork did in the 2004 decider — and what Kilkenny themselves managed two years later — namely stopping them in their bid for three-in-a-row.

However, the more immediate challenge for Cork will be to produce a convincing performance against Clare in their quarter-final confrontation in Thurles tomorrow (4 pm). Manage that and they will be more strongly placed to put an end to Mike McNamara and Clare’s ambitions. Struggle like they did in the qualifier game against Dublin in Páirc Uí Chaoimh a fortnight ago and they run the risk of exiting the competition.

Clare won’t be in the least inhibited in taking on the Rebels, even if they have lost to them four times in the last five years (most notably by a single point in the All-Ireland semi-final of 2005, under Anthony Daly). On the credit side, they got back to the Munster final for the first time in nine years by performing to a higher level than last season, against both Waterford and Limerick.

On the other hand, it could be argued that Waterford under-achieved and Limerick under-performed and that against Tipperary they lacked consistency.

Nevertheless, it would be accepted that they would have been in a much stronger position at half-time in the final had they not wasted so many scoring opportunities — and that they showed their true potential in the way they stormed back into the game.

Indeed, they might very well have been in contention for victory had they managed the goal which man-of-the-match John O’Brien scored to virtually decide the contest in Tipp’s favour.

Cork go into the game favourites almost entirely on the basis of their sparkling play in the second-half against Galway, with the radical difference in Joe Deane’s form from the Dublin game mirroring a significant improvement in the team overall. However, it wouldn’t make sense to ignore the fact that they were nowhere as convincing the first half up to the time Cusack was dismissed, or to assume that the huge psychological lift it gave to the team can be easily replicated. In fact, the likelihood is that the players will find it hard to achieve a similar intensity.

Nevertheless, one way or another, I feel that they will be too strong for Clare on the basis that they can achieve more at midfield, but most of all for the reason that a re-energised attack has much more to offer.