Cork must develop mean streak, says Lorcán McLoughlin

When any player describes their county’s league campaign as a mixture of “the good, the bad and the ugly”, a Division 1 final is not where you expect them to be.

But Lorcán McLoughlin is frank about Cork’s form. On Sunday, they have an opportunity to end a 17-year wait for the NHL title but it has been a choppy journey, featuring troubling home defeats to Kilkenny and Tipperary.

Ruthlessness is still the missing component of their play, says McLoughlin. Were it in their armoury, Tipperary would never have overturned a 12-point second-half deficit. Then again, Dublin didn’t have it either when they saw a similar lead eroded by Cork in the semi-final.