GRAHAM CANTY: John Miskella replaced the Cork captain in the pre-match warm-up, after the Bantry Blues man had suffered with injury. We’ll obviously never know for certain what could have happened if Canty had started, but you’d have to think he would have marked Martin Clarke. Cork needed leadership, especially during the first half when they seemed rudderless.

He came on after 41 minutes with the score at 0-9 to 0-6, and by the fiftieth minute Ciarán Sheehan hat hit the point that levelled matters. The captain’s introduction pumped the rebels full of adrenalin, allowing Noel O’Leary to almost wholly man-mark Martin Clarke out of the game. Down hit just three points in the first half hour of the second half, and Canty was in no small part responsible for that.

A TALE OF TWO CORKS: It’s often remarked that whoever controls the middle ground in sport wins. Cork controlled the middle of the park for large swathes of the first half, with John Miskella rampaging through Down’s midfield. But the Rebels couldn’t finish- trailing 0-8 to 0-5 at the interval point. The statistics back up Cork’s wastage of possession- Cork won seventeen kickouts in opening thirty-five minutes to Down’s six.

In the second half, Cork were rejuvenated. The Leesiders closed down their Ulster rivals much quicker and stamped their auuthority on the match through midfield. Graham Canty was solid enough at the back to allow the midfielders and half-backs to support the attack when needed.

DANIEL GOULDING: Cork owe the CIT student a massive thanks. Goulding scored three second-half frees under immense pressure to make atotal tally of 0-9. One point doubled Cork’s lead in the fifty-seventh minute, another put them three up a minute later and then with four minutes left Goulding pointed again from a free. Very much a big game player.