National Hurling League Division One/ Clare 2-15 Cork 3-9: By going 28 minutes of the second half without scoring and allowing Clare to dominate for even longer, Cork could be said to have suffered their second heavy defeat within two days - the first, of course, coming on the Congress floor.
Considering the day that was in it - spring, where are you? - it could also be seen as having little relevance to championship hurling. Assuming the weather does start improving fast, and Clare's run of victories over Kilkenny, Waterford, Tipperary and now Cork isn't some kind of freak, then the end result here could prove a little more telling than what the respective managers suggested afterwards.
Certainly the three-point margin doesn't reflect the overall trend of the game. Clare illustrated yet again that on any given day it's hard to beat character, something this team still have in abundance. Their best days might be behind them but they haven't given up trying to relive them. So they'll head down to play a deflated Wexford on Saturday knowing another win would secure a place in the league final, and not one player on the team needs reminding it's 1978 since Clare last won this competition.
"Well we're definitely not going to get carried away after this one," said manager Anthony Daly. "If anything that was a dip in performance from last week. A lot of our play was poor enough, but at half-time I just told them to use their heads more, and that seemed to work."
Few people will be surprised to hear Cork's league campaign is now over. They lost all three play-off matches last year and remain on course to do the same in 2005. Still, something seems to be missing from the All-Ireland champions, and not just some of their main players.
Niall McCarthy, Joe Deane and Neill Ronan all had to cry off with injury before the throw-in, and Ronan Curran was kept in reserve because of recent club duties. That left only nine of the All-Ireland-winning side on the starting list.
The most startling absence from the Cork team yesterday was confidence. They started well and put 2-3 on the scoreboard within a quarter of an hour, only for things to go rapidly downhill after that.
The most puzzling aspect of their game was without doubt the opening 28 minutes of the second half, when they couldn't produce a score of any sort, and instead sent 11 balls wide. Worse still, they'd done something similar in the opening half against Kilkenny last week.
Cork also lost Diarmuid O'Sullivan to a stomach illness at the close of the half, and then Pat Mulcahy at half-time. When manager John Allen was asked to assess the performance he rightfully pointed to the absentee list - but that didn't answer all the questions.
"I would say overall we'll still take some positives," said Allen. "We had to try out a lot of new players, who were forced to learn the ropes in a very competitive game. But look, I've made no secret of the fact the league is not a priority for us, so I'd be happy enough with parts of our performance."
Certainly, John Gardiner put in an exceptional performance at centre back, and Tom Kenny, who ended with 1-3, frequently lorded midfield. But neither of the Kieran Murphys was able to impress sufficiently to suggest they would be a reliable option come the summer, and the more the game progressed the more Cork's forward play became ragged and ineffective.
Clare still had to endure some anxious moments. The heavy surface meant every ball had to be won the hard way, but still it took a while for them to exert their greater physical strength. Andrew Quinn sent them on their way with the opening goal after six minutes, but Cork responded with 1-3, and were soon up by four points when Kenny completed a swift exchange of passes with their second goal on 13 minutes.
But that was where Cork's highlights package ended. Colin Lynch was starting to prowl midfield with greater menace and the Clare defence responded accordingly.
That included another reminder that there is still no more spectacular thing in hurling than the sight of Brian Lohan charging away from opponents at full throttle.
Just before the half hour they were all square again. Niall Gilligan got on to the end of a Seánie McMahon sideline and one turn later had sent the ball to the net. Seconds later he hit his first free and they were 2-5 each.
Clare sneaked ahead before the turnaround, but then the whole scene changed irrevocably. Seven Clare points without reply effectively ended Cork's challenge, and they clearly had no one on the field able to save their skins. Ben O'Connor was uncharacteristically off target on several occasions, while Barry Nugent, Tony Carmody and Diarmuid McMahon all chipped in for Clare with relative ease.
Finally, after 28 minutes of the half, Kenny sent over a close-range point. Four minutes later substitute Garvan McCarthy shot Cork's third goal to raise faint hopes of a dramatic comeback. But the way the Cork forwards were playing that was never going to extend beyond hope.
CLARE: D Fitzgerald; B Quinn, B Lohan, G O'Grady; A Markham, S McMahon (0-3, frees), G Quinn; B O'Connell, C Lynch; C Plunkett (0-1), D McMahon (0-1), B Nugent (0-3); A Quinn (1-1), N Gilligan (1-4, one free), T Carmody (0-2). Subs: D O'Connell for Plunkett (56 mins), D Clancy for O'Connell (62 mins), J Clancy for D McMahon (63 mins), K Kennedy for Nugent 66 mins), C Forde for S McMahon (71 mins, yellow card).
CORK: D Óg Cusack; B Murphy, D O'Sullivan, C O'Connor; G Callinan, J Gardiner (0-1), S Óg Ó hAilpín; T Kenny (1-3), J O'Connor (0-1); J O'Callaghan (0-1), P Mulcahy, K Murphy (Erin's Own, 0-2); B O'Connor (1-1), B Corcoran, K Murphy (Sarsfields). Subs: P Kelly for O'Sullivan (29 mins, inj), G McCarthy (1-0) for Mulcahy (half-time), K Hartnett for O'Callaghan (48 mins), R Curran for Callinan (58 mins), S O'Sullivan for Murphy (Sarsfields) (62 mins).
YELLOW CARDS: Clare: S McMahon (71 mins, replaced by C Forde).
Referee: S Roche (Tipperary).
