Fearlessness wins its reward

This was definitely an unexpected result. The way Clare performed against Tipperary in the semi-final, it was going to be hard for Cork to win this game, but to their absolute credit they pulled it off very impressively.

It wasn't the most spectacular game, with a lot of niggling and pulling, but it was always hard and it was always exciting. Even from the start I got the impression that Clare weren't mentally geared for the game. A lot of their early play was scrappy, they were dropping the ball and seemed to have real problems settling into a flow of play.

Cork appeared far more assured of their tactics and, as predicted, were well matched in the backs. They forced Seanie McMahon out wide and ran Anthony Daly so that at centre back and left half back Clare were in trouble.

The absence of Jamesie O'Connor from the forwards was also significant. At times Clare's forwards looked like a lean bunch and even though David Forde and Alan Markham played well, I felt overall they were unable to get the scores needed.

Clare probably lost the game in the first half because the didn't seem focused enough to contain Cork. The difference seemed to be there even as they ran out from the tunnel. Maybe the rivalry wasn't as great as Tipperary, I don't know, but they just didn't seem to display the same determination.

It was Cork's goal towards the end of the first half that probably had the biggest bearing on the game. From where I saw it, the ball was going wide and Seanie McGrath got in to pass it back but at that stage, Joe Deane was in the square. He made the natural reaction of flicking it in, but in my view it was a square ball. It meant Cork had the lead going into the break and that is always a great advantage.

Even at that stage it didn't look too good for Clare. I suspected that Ollie Baker was carrying some kind of injury, but that doesn't excuse the Clare performance as a whole in the first half.

The turn-around after the break was extraordinary as Clare pulled, dragged and hauled their way back into the game. Everyone from the backs, centrefield and forwards played their part and we saw them slowly come back to within a point.

That was just before Baker went out injured and while Cork hadn't scored for 23 minutes and Clare took over completely, they still couldn't manage to go pull ahead. The problem for them was that Cork's backs were consistently good and never allowed Clare to pull ahead. Even if a team can dominate for long periods, like Clare did in the second half, they have to score as well.

Still, Cork had something like 18 wides and some of them may have come as a result of pressure, but that can't count for all of them. That must have been a worry for Jimmy Barry-Murphy. But when they put a few frees over they were well back on top.

Once that free by Forde went wide I felt Clare were gone. That was the second big moment because that would have brought them level and given them another boost to lift them even higher. I had made a note about 22 minutes into the second half that Clare were still struggling to get ahead. Cork were in trouble, but after Clare failed to pull clear and Cork finally got another point, they were back in command. Baker going off was also a tremendous loss to Clare.

Cork will now have gone up in everyone's estimation and they proved yesterday that they could contain Clare and have the ability top keep slogging away when things are not going their way.

Another point in Cork's favour was their lack of fear in taking on Clare, which is amazing considering this side's lack of experience. They now have their first provincial championship since 1992 with an extremely young side and while Barry-Murphy said all along that it was a gamble, it's clear now that it's gone right.

I'm confident as well that this Cork side will get even better before the end of the championship. The forwards are well able to get into position and even if they had some terrible wides, they still created a lot of free ball and the backs were consistently tight.

Clare are always good at rising again and they love to win. They've lost the Munster final and it means another game they won't want, but knowing Ger Loughnane, he will use this to get them going again. They're still there and you can't rule them out just yet.

In an interview with Ian O'Riordan