SO COMPLETE is the rote. reversal of recent years in the Guinness hurling championship that yesterday's effervescent Munster semi-final in Limerick ended in the surely unique category of Moral Championship Victories by Cork over Clare.

Cork were too disappointed to dwell on the positive side of the young team's performance, but anyone who had 12 months ago approached manager Jimmy Barry Murphy, alone and forlorn in the evaporating steam of a Pairc Ui Chaoimh dressing-room after ritual humiliation by Limerick, would have noticed.

The disappointment yesterday wasn't because of the hollow feeling of embarrassment and inadequacy, but of genuine regret for a match that remained within Cork's compass up until the very end. Unlike previous years when a team in their position would have had to disband just as hurling conditions reached perfection, they will be able to re-group and train for another six weeks in readiness for the NHL quarter-finals.

I'm bitterly disappointed, but everyone did what was expected of them," said Barry Murphy afterwards. They, put pride back into Cork hurling.

His two-year appointment is up this season and Barry Murphy said that he would be discussing plans for the League with his players in the week ahead. Would he be seeking to renew his tenure? "No comment. That's a matter for the Cork county board. I've a two-year term. That's now for the board to decide." Would he be interested? "No comment." For Clare, it's business as usual with the modification that the win puts them into the All-Ireland series as at least quarter-finalists, depending on the outcome of the Munster final against either Tipperary or Limerick who meet next week.

Corner back Michael O'Halloran was cautious about Clare's next appointment. Cork played very well today. They had a lash. But there's probably a better quality of player in both Tipp and Limerick. It's a cliche, it goes down to the wire, but it does. We've played them both over the last two or three years. The form of our central spine today was encouraging and scoring 1-19 wasn't bad," he said.

The match was a gratifying affirmation of their now familiar virtues: physical strength, implacability and the priceless ability to extract outstanding performances from their most influential players.

At half-time as the crowd of 23,105 tingled in anticipation of a major upset, Clare took in their one-point lead and made the necessary adjustments to face a strong wind and a fast-growing challenge in the second half.

The changes made, had a significant effect as their revamped forwards made use of the additional space afforded by playing into the breeze. Ger Sparrow' O'Loughlin moved to full forward and scored three second-half points and made a goal, while the two fresh corner forwards, Stephen McNamara and David Forde, chipped in 1-1 after their introduction.

They had come on for the subdued debutant Niall Gilligan and the equally subdued full forward Conor Clancy, whose first half was summed up in a last-minute miss when clear on goal.

Behind O'Loughlin, Jamesie O'Connor was liberated by his move to centre forward after an unusually unprofitable first half in the company of Sean Og O hAilpin. Further back the field, the old reliables kicked into action. Brian Lohan and Sean McMahon took a grip on the centre of Clare's defence, where much of the action took place as Cork found themselves unable to continue spreading the ball wide.

It might have taken until the last minute of normal time for Clare to wrap a ribbon around the match, but they were remorseless and controlled for most of the final quarter. In the 70th minute, they struck for goal. PJ O'Connell released O'Loughlin who was unceremoniously bundled off the ball by Cork's full back John O'Driscoll - consequently booked.

Before the foul, however, O'Loughlin played the ball away to McNamara who scored the decisive goal. Cork complained both on the pitch and afterwards that the final pass had been thrown but to no avail.

Clare started the afternoon having to make a change to the selected line-up, introducing Colin Lynch in place of Fergal Hegarty, incapacitated by a hamstring injury. Nonetheless they got away to a comfortable start and led by 0-5 to 0-1 after 12 minutes.

The sole Cork point was significant in that it introduced championship debutant Seanie McGrath to the wider world. His under-age career and Fitzgibbon Cup performances earlier this year had identified a major talent, but his slight build also suggested potential problems acclimatising to senior hurling.

Together with Joe Deane in the other corner of Cork's attack, he carried a heavy burden going into yesterday's match against such powerful opposition. By the end of the afternoon, McGrath had graduated cum laude with a display combining touch, speed and vision. In the fourth minute he gathered the ball and turned in one swift movement before dispatching Cork's opening point. There were many such vignettes during the afternoon as he first troubled Frank Lohan before being switched onto Anthony Daly.

On the wing, McGrath caused further bother and by the end of the first half, had been centrally involved scoring, being fouled or providing the scoring pass in seven of his team's eight points as they launched an impressive surge which took them to within a point of Clare at half-time.

He did demonstrate a tendency in the first half to drift too deep and occasionally give away possession with a misjudged clearance. Another criticism of McCrath's play has been that he drifts in and out of matches. This was to an extent apparent in the second half, but he still managed three points from play.

"Probably I was a bit tired," he explained afterwards. "I did a lot of running in the first half and it's fairly warm out there and I just gradually faded out of it. They probably did their homework at half-time and decided to pick us up fairly tightly. It was very disappointing at the end of the day." Overall, though, it was an accomplished performance from the Glen Rovers man. In the other corner, Deane played out a gutsy duel with the physically intimidating Michael O'Halloran and scored a couple of points, but like McGrath, he suffered as the game tightened in the second half, exemplified by a virtuoso double block by O'Halloran on him in the 49th minute.

As a unit, Cork's defence can take great credit from their display, particularly in the first half. Brian Corcoran attained heights of championship hurling unseen since he became in 1992 the youngest Hurler of the Year at the age of 19.

He was ably assisted by O hAilpin and Timmy Kelleher, who raised his game later in the match after an uneasy opening on Fergie Tuohy. At full back, John O'Driscoll put behind him the unhappy memory of conceding two goals off Padraig Tobin in last year's championship debacle and attacked the ball with vigour and accuracy.

His flankers Fergal Ryan and the impressively composed teenager Diarmuid O'Sullivan had excellent first halves. All three began to suffer a bit more when Clare recast their full-forward line and began to hit better ball into it after the interval.

At the very back, Ger Cunningham in his 17th championship season had a fine afternoon in goal. He plucked down at least two certain points and cleared his lines with the zip of a newcomer. Some of his clearances in the second half were probably too kind to Clare's half backs, but Cork's main area of difficulty was down the middle of the attack.

Alan Browne came back to the 40 in a swap with Kevin Murray after 20 minutes to try and compete in the air. Ger Manley was also given a run at centre for ward and by the end, a fourth candidate, Mick Daly, had been given a run None of the options had much effect on McMahon's dominion at the heart of Clare's defence.