John Horgan looks at the positives for Cork hurling from the win over Dublin

IT'S stating the obvious to say that the standard that the Cork hurlers had set in defeating Limerick and Tipperary at the group stage of the Munster championship has not been maintained thus far in the All-Ireland series.

They have achieved their objective in getting past Offaly and Dublin in the preliminary quarter-final and quarter-final respectively but it goes without saying that a significant, overall display will be required if they are to do what no other county has done over the past number of seasons, defeat Limerick twice in a championship encounter.

But that's for another day and the conversation surrounding the potential of that game will take place as it looms larger on the horizon and it will be a conversation that will take place many times in every hurling home in both counties and far beyond.

Maybe the fact that Cork were fancied in nearly all quarters to take care of the Faithful and subsequently the Dubs after their Leinster final meltdown was a factor for a lot of the lethargy that was evident in those games from Pat Ryan's team.

The heights that were reached, particularly at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh in the earlier meeting with Limerick have not since been attained but, at the same time, getting back into Croke Park and being in the last four in the chase for the MacCarthy Cup has to be looked at as an achievement. All the more so given the rather dark place that they found themselves in after losing their two openers in Munster.

The hurling championship is not a grand national field like its football counterpart but it is still fiercely competitive in both provinces and certainly not easy to be still standing when the real business of the two All-Ireland semi-finals begin.

Cork are where they want to be, where they set out to be at the outset but everything goes up a few notches now.

The curtain-raiser in Thurles last Saturday was, for the most part, a very low-key affair save maybe for the last eight or nine minutes when Dublin asked far more serious questions than had been the case earlier on.

Their performance was, without doubt, a marked improvement on their shambolic Leinster final, loss to Kilkenny.

Given how nervy it became for Cork in the closing sequences despite the fact one always sensed there was never going to be an upset, Dublin will rue the fact that they registered 16 wides and their accuracy from the placed ball was off on too many occasions, the normally reliable Donal Burke missing the target too often in the opening half.

There were a number of positives for Pat Ryan's management to take away even if the former star player himself will be demanding so much better from his players as a unit next Sunday week.

POSITIVES

Cork had been conceding too many goals in their previous outings in Munster and against Offaly but a clean sheet last Saturday was one of those positives with keeper Patrick Collins again doing very well.

In front of him, Eoin Downey gave another efficient policing performance and continues to grow into the number three jersey.

Ciarán Joyce, back in his best position at number six, was very solid while further afield, Darragh Fitzgibbon was prominent early on.

Deccie Dalton had his best game in a Cork jersey with a haul of a half dozen points, three from open play and a few more from huge frees from distance.

He certainly had to be in very strong contention for Man of the Match but the analysts went for Dublin midfielder, Conor Burke who, to be fair, had a fine game.

Dalton, however, was the choice from this quarter and it must be strongly mentioned too that he forced Dublin goalie, Sean Brennan into a spectacular save from a blistering drive in the latter stages of the second half.

Patrick Horgan, as always, was his usual energetic self and once again illustrating how great a Cork hurler he remains.

Shane Barrett was again to the forefront early on but Brian Hayes and Alan Connolly will need to be a lot more conspicuous the next day.

Robbie O'Flynn's introduction and his brace of points will have not gone unnoticed and he is going to be an important figure in the Cork plan going forward.

There cannot be a whole pile done on the training ground at this stage of the season, all the hard work has been done but there are still plenty of things that will require careful diligence.

DIP IN FORM

Cork have not come anywhere near to setting the world on fire over the past two weekends, however, the games against Offaly and Dublin are bound to be an energiser going into Croke Park.

The depth of the squad is stronger now than it has been for quite some time but it's still not a case of the team selecting itself as maybe is the case in Limerick if there is a full hand to choose from and there has not been with Peter Casey, Sean Finn, Darragh O'Donovan and Seamus Flanagan all absent at one time or another.

Again to repeat, while not playing at the top end of their game, Cork have the momentum of four championship wins on the trot and that has not happened for some time. And that has to be viewed as a positive.

Dublin's response in the aftermath of the loss to Kilkenny will have pleased Micheál O'Donoghue but one would have to say that they are still a long way off being serious contenders for the bigger prizes.

Much had been made of the timing of the game and it beggars belief that the GAA allowed this to happen, a glorified challenge tournament, which the Tailtean Cup is in football, getting precedence over two major All-Ireland hurling quarter-finals.

That's all past tense now, of course, and we can look forward to two potentially cracking semi-finals between the four best hurling counties in the country.

And for Cork to be in that quartet will give everybody on Leeside a spring in their step before arguably, the greatest hurling team of all time emerge from the opposition dressing room next Sunday week.

And despite their earlier win in Munster, Cork will be going in as underdogs.

There is no doubt about the potential of this Cork team but they will need to be far more convincing than they were in their last two outings.

And only their very best will suffice against Limerick.