Cork finally inhale the scented air of All-Ireland success

10 July 2021; Cork players celebrate following the 2020 Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling All-Ireland U20 Championship Final match between Dublin and Cork at UPMC Nowlan Park in Kilkenny. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

The curious status of the successful U20 team was summed up by both managers after Saturday night’s All-Ireland final in Nowlan Park.

While Cork supporters, giddy with success, milled around their players on the field, the Dublin squad trooped disconsolately to the dressing-room: polar opposites. Yet Pat Ryan of Cork and Dublin’s Paul O’Brien were making similar noises.