Seánie McGrath: Cork are not the finished article, Dublin are a real banana skin

Against Offaly, there was a casualness and sloppiness to Cork’s play that you would hope was just a one-off.

MIDFIELD MAN: Ciarán Joyce of Cork in action against Eoghan Cahill of Offaly. Picture: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

There was plenty of commentary last week regarding the relevance and value of the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals, as there had been before last year’s Special Congress vote on their saved future.

Taking off my hurling cap and wearing an exclusively red one, Saturday’s preliminary quarter-final was incredibly beneficial to Pat Ryan and his players. Put simply, Cork needed the 70-plus minutes.