1. Courage: Not for the first time during this memorable campaign, Cork dug deep into their vast reserves of determination and never-say-die attitude to rescue a game which appeared to have slipped from their grasp after Galway grabbed their second goal near the end.

But Cork weren’t going to accept defeat and immediately equalised with a stunning goal from Conor Corbett to force the game into two periods of 10 minutes each way. Having been outplayed and out-thought for almost 36 minutes, Cork did brilliantly to stay in the hunt and then take over.

2. Goals: It’s a widely acknowledged cliché at this stage, but goals not only win games, they also help struggling teams to rekindle their challenges as Galway found out the hard way. Six minutes into the second half, Cork trailed by 0-10 to 0-6, but Jack Cahalane pounced for the first of three to give the Rebels a much-needed lifeline.

Then, captain Conor Corbett slammed in the last-gasp equaliser, 20 seconds after Galway thought they had won it at 2-13 to 1-13. Just as critical was substitute Ryan O’Donovan’s goal at the start of extra-time to put Cork on the road.

3. Belief: Cork’s confidence was tested beyond breaking point at several stages during the season, but they always found a reply, whether during the game or the next. It was the same again yesterday as Cork started slowly, looked in trouble, but found a way to fashion a stunning success.