Predictably, they prove the prophecies wrong yet again

So another big occasion when Offaly have proved everyone wrong. They were written off in every shape and form coming into this game and no one was giving them the slightest chance against the All-Ireland winners who looked to be on course for another appearance in the final.

Yet Offaly do nothing better than upsetting all the predictions and all the form books, and I'm certainly not afraid to admit that. But I did say before this game that if there was any kick left in this Offaly team, it would come here.

Cork may have been showing all the form and Offaly were struggling in a lot of areas in their previous matches, yet they showed tremendous heart in this game and that's something that they will always threaten to do.

Of course, it proves yet again that when you knock Offaly down, that's exactly when they're going to get up and show what they are truly capable off.

And there were other things they wanted to prove in this game as well. They felt that they were unlucky to lose to Cork last year and that this team still has another All-Ireland left in them yet. Well now they're just another 70 minutes away from doing that and, suddenly, it's looking like a whole new season for them.

The game itself was a wonderful occasion played amidst a great atmosphere. The first half was peculiar in many ways in that Cork seemed to be dominating with considerable ease.

Joe Deane was winning ball after ball from Kevin Kinahan and the likes of Brian Whelahan, Kevin Martin and Joe Errity were displaying remarkably little presence. On top of that, Johnny Dooley was struggling somewhat to find his feet at midfield and almost every puck-out by Stephen Byrne was being won by the Cork men at midfield.

Yet, all of a sudden, Gary Hanniffy was winning ball on Brian Corcoran and that, for me, was the first indication that Cork may be in trouble.

As well as that, you had Sean O hAilpin winning a lot of ball on Johnny Pilkington and yet the Offaly man was still picking off points. A player has to be preventing his man from scoring if he's going to do a complete job of marking him.

Despite all this, Cork were ahead 0-12 to 0-10 at half-time and certainly appeared to be cruising. Crucially, however, Joe Deane was their only man scoring and that didn't bode well. And I felt that if the Whelahan's and Martin could liven up their game then it mightn't be as straightforward for Cork.

Then came a major turnaround in the second half and what was most remarkable of all was that Cork only scored three points. But Kinahan won the first high ball that was sent into him ahead of Deane. Then he won the second, and the third, and, suddenly, you had Deane under all sorts of pressure in trying to win a ball ahead of the Offaly full back.

But the problem as well was that Cork were forced to send in a lot of high ball because of the pressure they were suddenly experiencing at midfield.

Brendan Murphy took over a lot of the responsibility there for Offaly and Hanniffy was suddenly slipping past Corcoran with remarkable ease. It also meant that Deane wasn't getting the low ball that he likes.

And with Johnny Dooley now at centre forward, Offaly were suddenly on a roll. Now for the team who are expected to win, it's even more difficult to raise their game in that sort of situation.

In fairness to Cork, they did try to run the ball towards the Offaly goal, but there was just no way through.

It's hard to pick out particular players in a team achievement like this, but I certainly felt that Simon Whelahan had a tremendous game and played some outstanding hurling in the second half.

Equally significant and positive for Offaly is that all the younger players stepped up their game and started showing the way, the likes of Niall Claffey, Ger Oakley and Brendan Murphy.

Look also at Joe Errity, who probably didn't have a particularly good game at centre back and yet Fergal McCormack was still taken off.

You can't ask anything more from a defender than that. Every time that Cork ran at the Offaly goal there was a man there to block them and it would have taken a superman to find a way through.

One thing that did stand out and impress me most of Offaly's game in the second half was the way they moved the ball.

The pace was phenomenal and not a single player delayed in either passing or laying on the ball to the next man.

Cork's movement was very much in contrast and they continually sent in this high ball because of the pressure they were under around the middle of the field.

O hAilpin was also moved onto Johnny Dooley and still the Cork half backs were in trouble. Corcoran was under considerable pressure to win ball and we haven't seen that in a long while.

Even when Cork did win ball at midfield, a lot of it ended up being sent wide. In fact, you look at the final total of wides - Cork's 16 to Offaly's five - and that tells a major part of the story in itself.

Even for the neutrals watching this game, it would have been hard to see how Offaly would get past Cork in the second half. That was the sort of turnaround that was on show here.

But it's an incredible record for them now to get into yet another All-Ireland final and the likes of Johnny Pilkington has always said that late summer is the time to be playing your best hurling.

Finally, I have to say a word about the Dublin performance in the minor game. This was the first time in many, many years that I've seen a Dublin team look this comfortable on the ball. Even though they found Cork a little too hot to handle in the second half, it still puts Dublin's future in one of the more healthy states in a long while.

Overall then, the best afternoon's hurling of the championship - so far.