Losing to Clare a blessing in disguise for Cleary and Cork

Players were left to their own devices the week after the Clare defeat. Thereafter, Cleary and Kevin Walsh got themselves out into the middle of the field and began directing and shaping.

BLESSING IN DISGUISE: The seven week break after losing to Clare turned out well for Cork as they were able to organise the team in a manner they couldn't in pre-season. Pic: George Hatchell

Hindsight is a wonderful tool. It’s an equally convenient one too. Selective application can be used to make most narratives fit.

In the case of Cork’s run to the last eight of the football championship, hindsight has shown us the significance of their Easter Sunday Munster quarter-final defeat to Clare and the seven weeks it gave them to disappear from the public eye and sharpen uninterrupted the whole host of areas that has contributed to their displays and results since re-emerging from their Páirc Uí Chaoimh bunker at the end of May.