Cork fans: 'There is nothing and no one that will stop us this year'

There was no mistaking it in Croke Park on Saturday evening: Cork didn’t just win — they made a statement. 

With a performance as clinical as it was passionate, the Rebels dismantled Dublin in an All-Ireland hurling semi final that was all but over by halftime.

The final scoreline told the story — Cork 7-26, Dublin 2-21 — but even that doesn’t capture the sense of dominance Cork brought from the throw-in. 

Every puck-out, every tackle, every burst forward came with a sharpness that screamed of a team with something to prove, which was felt by the thousands of Cork supporters lining the stands.

Speaking to The Echo after the match, Saoirse Stewart from Clonakilty said there "was a lot of hurt in Cork after last year". 

"You could feel it around the clubs, the pubs, even I am sure in the dressing rooms. This team’s playing like they’ve carried that pain all year. 

"They have made a promise to themselves and to their county this year, and they made that known today. What they did today - that was for every poor soul who sat through last year’s pain,” she said.

Sheila Brady echoed the drive for redemption that Cork showcased against Dublin: "Last year’s heartbreak hardened this team. They didn’t come back the same — they came back better, tougher, and more determined."

As the goals on the score board begin racking up, many Cork supporters began planning their next trip to Jones’ Road.

“We were so far ahead there at one point that I started Googling hotel prices for the final. 

"I would say there won’t be a train seat left in the country by tomorrow either,” Barry Duggan, from Glanmire, joked.

"I just texted my cousin in the club committee for the first time in four years. Desperate times, boy,” Declan Thomas, from Cork city, added.

“The scramble for final tickets started at half time really. There’s going to be fierce politics over who gets what. It’s like a GAA Hunger Games now,” Sinead Roche, from Beara, added.

Also confident in the Cork side, Orla Goggins from Castlelyons said: "The only suspense in the second half was whether we’d hit the 50-point mark. I was doing maths more than shouting!"

Cork’s ruthless performance alongside some naive Dublin defending saw the scoreline spiral in the second half, ending in the kind of result that will have their All-Ireland final competitors, either Tipp or Kilkenny, sitting up and taking notice.

"We outclassed them in every line. To get that kind of score on the board in an All-Ireland semi final is mental. 

"If that’s how we’re playing now, I wouldn’t want to be facing us in the final," Paudie Hogan, from Dunmanway, said.

Cork are to lineup against either Tipperary or Kilkenny in the All-Ireland Hurling Final. They meet in Croke Park today.

However, the Rebel Army’s confidence has not wavered, with Peader Connolly from Hollyhill concluding: “There is nothing and no one that will stop us this year. After 20 years, Liam will be back on the Lee.”