Fitzhenry saves the best one-liner till last

It's quiet in the corridor beneath the stand. No electrical currents, no chaos, no wailing. Two teams behind closed doors contemplating the country behind and the journey ahead.

Two managers wearing their game faces. John Conran has a few things to smile about. His team have been written off early and often this summer. And they are still standing. What a story they are becoming.

"We were keen to make a good start," he reflected. "The lads put in a fair effort and it worked. Cork in fairness have been a few years out of Croke Park and they took a little while to get used to it. There are much more plusses for us there for the next day."

Half-time must have been one of those interludes that managers long for but then sometimes don't know how to handle when they arrive. Wexford were floating like butterflies stinging like bees but Cork were still on their feet. No knockouts yet.

"At half-time we said we hadn't won anything. We were keen to come out in the second half and tag onto the lead which we did duly. Cork got to grips. Cork got their high crest. Every game has ebbs and flows. One minute in injury-time I thought it was gone too late but we had six attacks in the last few minutes and if you keep firing at the wall something is about to stick."

More good than bad to take away though. What more can a bainisteoir want.

"We kept our discipline, moved off each other well. Replay: we have it all to do again, we'll meet tomorrow. There's plenty of places we can improve. We gave them lots of shots. That's something to work at. As for the game itself? When you are involved, running up and down the line you don't look at the game."

Donal O'Grady looked a little more frazzled but his words didn't betray it. Wexford had impressed him. His team had learned. They appreciated too there might have been a harder lesson to learn.

"Wexford were very good, aggressive and tight. Sometimes when you are off for a few weeks you don't get to the pace but then again we had a great first 10 minutes except on the scoreboard. Games are like that. Teams dominate for 10 minutes and then go out and come back again. We both had chances."

Early in the second half he might have been worried but it's not his nature to panic. He felt that there was never a big enough gap to set the sirens off, Wexford went six up but there was time enough left in the game for Cork to go five points up and then lose that lead themselves.

"They got a goal and from a comfortable position it was back in the melting pot. We thought when Alan Browne scored maybe we'd done enough, but we were caught. It was like that. There's only a poc and a half in the length of Croke Park now with the new ball. That means lots of frenetic pressure around the defences, one slip and it's over the bar.

"The theme of the weekend was entertainment though. We didn't get what we wanted but we live to fight another day. Overall we're satisfied."

Joe Deane was equally phlegmatic. Hard to be too down when you score 1-7 in Croke Park and here the chant of "Deano! Deano!" rock the place.

"We had four wides late on and I suppose if we watch the video it's one of the aspects we could have improved on. At half-time though we'd have settled for a draw. We hadn't been moving well. Wexford, everything was going well for them they were playing well and aggressively. We had to find a way back into the game."

They did that but late on the first signs that their sandcastle was about to tumble came when Larry Murphy started getting his hand to high balls. He was blocked or smothered or ushered out of harm's way each time but the crowd rose to its feet.

"It lifted the team a bit," he smiled. "But not scoring meant maybe we were saying maybe we've blown our powder. We just said keep going. As for the next time we'll worry about that when it comes."

Was this the rebirth of Larry. New man for the new era. "New man? I don't know," he gasps. "There's other guys out there, it's a 20-man game. A lot of the subs weren't used. We have a big squad. It was a pure furnace out there. You take on as much water. You get to a certain age and it doesn't help to be baking. I don't have too many solar panels on my head and the old thatch is a bit light and the sun is beaming down. You have to train for all kinds of weather it was as hot for them as it was for us.

"We're making a habit of this. We drew with Tipp (in 2001) and didn't finish it. We're a little disappointed we blew away a six-point lead. You could say it wasn't a great performance to blow a six-point lead."

Mitch Jordan's mood matched that of those around him. Good day's work but nothing achieved yet. "We knew Cork would come back. We haven't won anything yet. I don't know about answering critics like some people have said. You do that when you win something. We'll see."

And that late goal, his part in it?

"Rory let a shout out of him and I put it in. I had the easy job. He had the hard job." No embellishments there yet anyway.

Rory McCarthy wasn't exactly lost in the flow of words either. "The goal was about the only stroke I got for the game but it was a nice one to get. I didn't realise it had gone in really, heard the crowd roaring. I turned and hit it. Some days it would hit the side-netting or go over the bar. I struck it well and it was Wexford's day. We looked dead and buried but we're pleased to be still in there."

"Cork were favourites, that would have been in the back of their mind. The surprise element is gone but we proved we can put it up to them. We missed goal chances and if we had taken them who knows. We're glad to get a second bite."

Last words to Paul Codd perhaps? "I don't agree we have improved. Antrim were better than people gave them credit for and so were we. As for the replay there's not a whole lot we can do between now and next Saturday, except chill out."

Or maybe closing lines belong to Damien Fitzhenry who added to his legend yesterday. How did you find the new sliotar Damien? "Well, I looked around twice and there it was in the net."

More one-liners next week folks.