Anthony Daly: Cork top my ranking of eight remaining Liam MacCarthy contenders

Our hurling analyst and podcast host examines the credentials of the eight counties still standing as the chase for Liam MacCarthy moves beyond the provinces and into the All-Ireland knockout phase.

Cork would have been in the top two Liam MacCarthy contenders irrespective of the result against Limerick in the Munster SHC final. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

NO 1. CORK.

No matter what happened on Saturday evening, Cork were in the top two for me anyway, but they deserve to occupy top spot, albeit marginally, after the manner of Saturday’s win. We all saw afterwards how much the hype train has been cranked into gear and, while Cork will be carried along in that fervour and passion of that hysteria over the next four weeks ahead of an All-Ireland semi-final, it will also be a challenge for Pat Ryan to make sure that the hype train doesn’t derail them.