Cork hurling suffers another devastating defeat, losing classic final is no consolation after 19 years of hurt 

Another epic game involving Cork on the big stage, but more devastation for the hurlers, the backroom and their passionate supporters.

They contributed richly to an absolutely brilliant battle with Clare, one of the greatest All-Ireland hurling finals of all time. But, just like in 2013, that’s of little consolation as we won’t be welcoming Liam MacCarthy back to Leeside this week.

Keith Duggan wrote a terrific book about the Mayo footballers’ struggles, House of Pain, and Leesiders know exactly what that title means. 

Falling short by a single point to the Banner, and seeing a Robbie O’Flynn shot to secure a replay curl wide, was another hammer blow.

Cork made the All-Ireland final three times through the backdoor in the last 11 years, without the momentum of a Munster title, and fell short. And when they did lift the provincial crown they were beaten in three semi-finals.

That was against Munster teams just to make it worse! The 2018 extra-time loss to Limerick was especially tough to stomach given their dominance since. While it was a sickener to take out the Treaty and then see Clare sweep to glory, ala 2013 when JBM’s youngsters eliminated Kilkenny.

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What we’ve learned the hard way, is that Cork’s historic status as a hurling superpower guarantees them nothing. Patrick Horgan deserves an All-Ireland medal due to his longevity and class but deserve has got nothing to do with it.

It’s all about earning the right to lift the big prizes. The Rebels’ record in Croke Park since Seán Óg collected the cannister in 2005 is poor because they haven’t been consistent enough.

After a bad start to this season, Cork got motoring and earned their place in the decider. When the dust settles, they’ve to gear up for 2025 and try to climb back up the mountain once more.

There was country-wide sniping at Cork’s build-up to the All-Ireland, the hype machine having gone into overdrive, but that wasn’t a factor on Jones Road on Sunday. The Cork faithful had huge belief in this group but there was no cockiness whatsoever.

Pat Ryan kept the players completely grounded. If he hadn’t, they wouldn't have shown the guts to recover from three Clare goals and some moments of utter magic from Tony Kelly. 

There were a few refereeing decisions that went against them, but such is the nature of elite hurling. Cork had five wides to Clare's two in extra time, that was a decisive factor given the match was on a knife-edge.

Seamus Harnedy, Tim O’Mahony, Eoin and Rob Downey and Mark Coleman were outstanding to keep Cork in it. 

Cork left everything out there. It just wasn't good enough.