As a spectacle this took some beating, but cold analysis in Cork will reveal harsh truths

Cork butchered enough goal chances to win a couple of games, not counting a sensational save by Eoin Murphy of Kilkenny

Cork manager Kieran Kingston and Patrick Horgan celebrate after the game. Picture: INPHO/Lorraine O'Sullivan

Paraphrase Louis McNeice if you want to try and sift through the chaos of Sunday in Croke Park: Hurling is crazier and more of it than we think, incorrigibly plural.

Everything about this All-Ireland semi-final, though, is reverse-engineered from its finish. Cork six up with seven minutes left, three up with nothing left, and yet Kilkenny equalise.