Nash 'a real leader' for Cork

He had particularly big shoes to fill when he took over from Cork's long-time custodian Donal Óg Cusack last season, but there is no denying that Anthony Nash is now very much at home in the Rebels' number 1 jersey.

Such was Nash's influence during Cork's All-Ireland SHC semi-final win over Dublin last Sunday that some have put him in the running for the Hurler of the Year honour.

His Kanturk and Cork team-mate Lorcán McLoughlin believes the reliable stopper deserves to be up there as a contender, insisting: "Well I'd say Anthony won't be far off. In fairness Patrick Horgan is putting in huge performances, Pa Cronin as well.

"There are certainly fellas stepping up to the plate and again, come the All-Ireland (final), different fellas could step up to the plate who we haven't heard of yet so it's very encouraging so far."

Nash came up-field to convert three placed balls in the 1-24 to 1-19 victory at Croke Park, and kickstarted a number of other scores for Cork with well-placed puckouts - indeed, a brilliant statistic from the game gleaned by the Irish Examiner shows that eight of his restarts led to Cork scoring within 15 seconds of his initial delivery.

Add in his crucial save from Ryan O'Dwyer and it is easy to see why McLoughlin, himself a deserving winner of the man-of-the-match award, rates Nash so highly.

"I suppose if you follow Anthony's career, he's been there long enough and has bided his time really," added McLoughlin, the strong-running midfielder.

"I'm delighted for him that he made the breakthrough last year and was deserving of an All-Star, and it's great to see him pushing on again this year. He's developing into a real leader in the set-up as well."

The 28-year-old Nash scooped his maiden All-Star award last season and his form this term has arguably improved, witness his stunning double save against Kilkenny as he batted away a Richie Power penalty and reacted swiftly to keep out Tommy Walsh's shot on the rebound.

The Cork netminder had gone five Championship matches without conceding a goal between this summer and last until Dublin's David Treacy found a way past him during last weekend's semi-final clash.

Nash admitted it was "a small bit of a downer" to leak such a score just before half-time, but his team-mates' response was hugely encouraging as Horgan, Seamus Harnedy, Cronin and Daniel Kearney pointed them back ahead for the interval at 0-15 to 1-11. It was a psychological boost that the Rebels needed.

"It would have been huge if we had gone in at half-time having conceded a goal and two or three points on the run. But we actually went in a point up at half-time which just shows the character of the lads which has been built up this year," conceded Nash.

"The experience definitely helped of being in Croke Park before but a lot of guys didn't play last year. You can't put your finger on (why we won), you have the sending-off (of Ryan O'Dwyer), you have Hoggy's goal, everything, but it's just about getting on the right side of the victory."

The secondary school teacher is now facing the biggest exam of his hurling career with Clare or Limerick set to provide the opposition in an all-Munster decider on Sunday, September 8.

Looking forward to only his third ever appearance at Croke Park next month, Nash added: "It's great (to be in an All-Ireland final). I thought I'd never get there. The elation we had in the dressing room versus the misery we had in the Munster final dressing room is obviously far different.

"We will put the head down and hopefully get a better experience in the final. Clare and Limerick are two fantastic sides. Clare beat us three times this year and Limerick beat us in the Munster final, deservedly so, so look we'll just get our own house in order and hopefully finish the right side of that as well."