Ageing dogs for the September road

IT NOW seems garlic and a wooden stake will be necessary to finish Cork. The men in red overcame a nine-point deficit to reel in Clare in yesterday’s All-Ireland quarter-final, a stunning turnaround which looked out of the question at half-time.

After last weekend’s win for the ages over Galway, the question was whether the Leesiders would have the energy for another outing. And as it happened, they had the legs to beat the Banner to the finishing tape.

Clare arrived in Semple Stadium with a plan. Ronan Curran wasn’t allowed to dominate early on – in fact, he wasn’t even left in the centre – and the two corner-backs were dragged around Semple Stadium. Niall Gilligan drifted left and right, but wherever he went he stayed in the zone, chipping in five first-half points.