WHAT’S LUCK GOT to do with it? You’d be a fool to attribute your shortcomings to its absence. You’d also be wrong to dismiss it as a factor. Napoleon made it a key part of the hiring criteria for good reason.  

A few turning points jumped out from the All-Ireland hurling semi-final on Saturday, Galway’s barn burning return to a final and Cork’s latest collapse.

The first and most obvious was Damien Cahalane’s yellow card just after the 30-minute mark. Referee Johnny Murphy signalled it was for holding, and his second offence. Watching them back, there does not seem to be a lot in either – both could be categorised as six-of-one and half-dozen the other, but refs have to make these calls in the moment.

The Cork response on the line was to wait it out until the break. This seemed a mistake, not just in hindsight but at the time. You could sense the air pressure change. Immediately, drastically. Cork were in control of the game at that point, 1-12 to 1-7 ahead having figured out Galway’s low block – which delivered initial success, putting them five clear after seven minutes.

The time to replace Cahalane was right there and then. He had done well on Jason Rabbitte to that point, but the yellow meant it was over. No earthly way can you leave an isolated defender on a yellow against an electric forward like Rabbitte.

Ger Millerick, a good man marker, was arguably the best candidate to enter and fight it out with Rabbitte.

The spectre of red no doubt informed Cahalane’s next challenge, uncharacteristically lacking in aggression, on Rabbitte, who easily shook him off to score a point on 32 minutes and 30 seconds. Rabbitte had his hands out to fend off the tackle, but also as a dare to Cahalane. A tangle there and Murphy has a decision to make, one you could well see going against the Cork man.

Jason Rabbitte and Damien Cahalane tussle. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO

A lack of conviction in any team is contagious and all over the field Cork were now hesitant where moments earlier they had been assured. Scar tissue was beginning to open.

The next big moment came after 33 minutes. Shane Barrett went to gather the ball, facing his own goal near the Cusack side. Ronan Glennon came in and hit him in a way that, in the ground at the time, looked reckless and dangerous.

On the replay it does not look as bad. The hurley was high but Glennon hit Barrett more of a glancing than straight blow. Still, it was around the head and had Barrett not pulled away slightly at the last moment it could have been worse. The Cork forward got to his feet swiftly, which helped Glennon, who was fortunate to not get a yellow card, at least.

Cork supporters protest after Shane Barrett was fouled by Ronan Glennon. Tom O’Hanlon / INPHO Tom O’Hanlon / INPHO / INPHO

Throughout the day the card total was six to none. In the book for Cork were Darragh Fitzgibbon (twice), Brian Hayes, Cahalane, Barrett and Sean O’Donoghue. It did not feel like a game where one side was more aggressive or on the edge compared to the other. There were times when you could have criticised Cork’s lack of bite.

Galway’s next score came soon after – Darren Morrissey, Barrett’s man, getting up the field without the chase he might have usually expected.

Cork’s disarray deepened during the rest of the half. Sean O’Donoghue lost it with his swinging arm tackle on Rabbitte, with Eoin Downey now marking the danger man and having been given the slip.

It would have been a harsh sending off as Rabbitte had lowered his centre of gravity at the point of impact, but you have seen those given. Murphy, though, could not really show red after letting Glennon off with just a free shortly before.

Cork’s third quarter meltdown was absolute and spectacular. They shipped nine points and scored one from minutes 35-50. Not the kind of ‘moving quarter’ that teams usually come back from. But things can change quickly in hurling.

The next momentum shifter came with Hayes’ yellow card just before the clock hit 50 minutes.

There are bad yellows to give away and there are ones which are quite good. With Cork fumbling directionless around the field, they needed leadership in any form. A belligerent foul would have to do. Hayes sensed what was required, made his way out to the centre of field and hit Rabbitte a solid shoulder, which missed the mark and got him in the back.

It served to wake Cork up. The signal went around: Urgency required, better late than never. Galway missed the resulting free, William Buckley was sprung from the bench and the shift in energy was as discernible as it had been for Cahalane’s yellow.

Suddenly Cork were lighting up rucks and the ball wasn’t coming crisply to hand for Galway players. Hayes pointed on 52 minutes and Buckley bolted through to add another a minute later. Now it’s a six-point game with 17 minutes plus stoppages to go. Galway’s nerve was about to be tested.

Yet the next minute brought the final and decisive turning point. Darragh Fitzgibbon’s attempted hook on Glennon made contact with the helmet and as per the rules that’s a yellow, a second for the Cork captain, and he was gone.

Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO

This is a debatable one. Challenges to the head are not tolerated for safety reasons which rightly supersede the spectacle of whatever game is taking place. The counterargument is this was an accidental and glancing blow that did not look to be of the force that would cause injury. Of course, that is easy to say when it’s not you that has been hit. Glennon went down and stayed down, where Barrett got up in the first half when Glennon himself struck him. After some treatment Glennon was able to recover and play the rest of the game, where Galway’s 15 were never in danger from Cork’s 14.

There is possibly a price to pay for Galway in this, as well as Cork. For the Rebels it’s obvious: they are out with nothing but 60,000 broken hearts to show for it.

For Galway, they got a lap of honour in the last 15 minutes plus stoppages instead of the examination which may have been coming their way had Cork retained the full complement. They will not be as battle hardened as Limerick come the final. Yet that can work both ways, they will be the fresher side.

Does it seem likely that Cork would have recovered from six down after 54 minutes to take it to the wire? No, probably, but such turnarounds are hardly the stuff of fantasy in hurling. You only have to look as far back as yesterday for Limerick’s brilliant comeback from six down after 57 minutes against Clare.

Or to the first half of this game – Cork trailed by five after seven minutes but led by five at the half hour. Galway were down by five on 30 minutes, but level come the first play of the second half and ahead by eight come the 50th minute. Fortunes turn outrageously quickly. Momentum can be gained from small incidents and gather to a pace which is near irresistible.

Do Cork have a discipline problem as well as the character one that is being levelled against them now? Perhaps. If the same thing keeps happening you would be mad not to address it.

They might also have something of an issue with the Gods, who can be cruel to teams who are yearning for a breakthrough. The two yellows against Eoin Downey in last year’s All-Ireland final, for example, were harsh. The second may well have been a free the other way.

And when sides are in their pomp, they tend to get the rub of the odd green, Nickie Quaid could attest to as much. Small margins, as John Kiely once said.

Cork face many charges today, tomorrow and until the day they get across that line, questions about skill under pressure, about resilience, about emotional hijack and scrambled amygdalas, about their passionate supporters and whether or not they prebook their trains too far in advance. All but one of these questions bar one are fair and valid. There is a lot more going against Cork than marginal calls and the ball not bouncing their way.

In life, love and war, though, you do need a bit of good fortune. Sport often shows us that it doesn’t favour the desperate.