Pressure cranks up on Cork hurlers after Clare comeback, time to see what they're really made of

Glass half full or half empty from a Cork perspective?

Given Cork were 12 points up in the first half in Ennis and going to town on the Clare full-back line it was galling they coughed up two goals straight after the break to offer the hosts a lifeline. That they then steadied the ship and forged up by nine, 2-21 to 2-12, after 56 minutes, made their last-gasp draw even worse.

Yes, they didn't lose but this was a glorious opportunity to deal the All-Ireland champions a significant blow. Clare hit 1-6 from the 67th minute onwards, Cork just a point. A draw was probably fair but it didn't make it less sickening.

However, this is the championship marathon of the modern era, not the sprint of old when it was a straight-knockout competition. 

Cork have two home games to come, starting with Tipp on Sunday, and could still reach the Munster final from here. 

It's up to them to reset and push on from here.

When you consider Cork hurled the last quarter of another pulsating battle with the Banner for 14 men after Shane Barrett got involved with David Reidy off the ball and was red-carded, a draw wasn't the worst-case scenario. Especially given Clare went ahead with what we feared was the last puck in the 76th minute.

Shane Kingston and Ciarán Joyce did well to ensure the last puck-out was secured and Declan Dalton slammed the free over to avoid a fourth championship loss in a row to Clare.

REGRETS

Unquestionably, Cork will have regrets about how they handled those final 20-odd minutes. They were only outscored 0-3 to 0-2 up to the 67th minute when Eoin Downey was forced into conceding a tap-over free from a short restart and the next sequence saw Peter Duggan hit the net and cut the gap to just four.

Clare were hoovering up every break at that juncture and driven on by the rabid crowd, they dominated, using the extra man efficiently from there.

A few errrors proved very costly and Cork did have chances to nab points and hold Clare at bay, Dalton, Roche and Hayes all off target. You'd also wonder should one of Patrick Horgan or Alan Connolly have remained on.

The crazy talk about Cork being All-Ireland champions can now be parked up at least. 

They'll find a Tipp a different animal on Sunday to the team they swept aside in the league final and that'll really show what they're made of.

The pressure has cranked up though.