Cork are playing 'total hurling' like the Dutch played football in 1974 but are hoping for a better ending

During an electric summer played out to the backdrop of an orange haze, the 1974 World Cup will always be indelibly connected to Holland’s revolutionary brand of total football and how that team found their way into the hearts and minds of an adoring public.

With a compelling new style, defined by mesmerising skill and an almost telepathic understanding of space and balletic movement, that Dutch team’s legacy still endures as one of the most important in the sport’s history.

Of course, not everyone is always that kind and generous to that group as the Dutch didn’t win that tournament, beaten in the final by West Germany. 

And yet, that side is still cherished for how much their philosophy left such a deep cultural imprint on that game, one that is still shaping modern football to this day.

Results and success define legacies but the public still always cherish teams that capture the imagination, teams that see style as a form of expression of their character and innate heritage, operating in such a way that they almost transcend the game.

Saturday was one of those days for Cork in how their style and brilliance was as scintillating as the result, in how it entertained and thrilled those far beyond their own boundaries.

Cork easily won the game but the way they married sublime skill and fluid movement to create their devastating attacking patterns of play was as impressive as the final score.

Some of Cork’s finishing was as cheeky and audacious as ever seen before in Croke Park where the ridiculous and sublime was almost routine by the end of the match as four of Cork’s green flags were either engineered or finished with one-handed strokes.

All of Cork’s goals were ornaments to the game, a tribute to the majesty and decorative genius and instinct of the players who created and finished them; Alan Connolly, Patrick Horgan, Tim O’Mahony, Brian Hayes and Declan Dalton. 

Untouchable.

The outcome was devastating and earth-shattering, Cork torching everything that moved, incinerating Dublin with a fireball of pace and brilliance to record the second-highest score in the history of All-Ireland semi-finals, just six points less than the outlandish scoreline Wexford posted in 1954 when blitzing Antrim with 12-17.

Cork were ruthless but they were able to be when they dominated possession to the levels they did. 

Cork sourced 2-8 from Patrick Collins’ restarts, while they mined a staggering 5-11 off turnovers. 

Cork relentlessly hounded Dublin players out of possession in the tackle, while they routed Dublin in the air.

On a couple of occasions in the first half, John Hetherton raised his arms to some of his team-mates out the field after they’d taken on low-percentage efforts when the better option was to launch it on top of Hetherton and Eoin Downey, particularly when Dublin had created so much space in front of Hetherton for the Dublin runners to attack any breaking balls or offloads off the big full-forward.

Starting Hetherton was a statement of Dublin’s intent and hope that he might be able to aerially trouble Downey in the way that Clare’s Peter Duggan had in Ennis in March and April but that never happened on Saturday.

Hetherton failed to cleanly win any of the ten long balls Dublin played into him. The one high fetch he did make was from a puckout that led to a converted free.

As Cork kept plucking balls out of the air, with runners charging forward in waves, and with Cork’s inside forwards feasting on such a bountiful supply, Cork were inevitably going to cut loose; of the 28 long and measured balls Cork played into their attack in the first three quarters, they mined a colossal 5-8.

The fusion of first touch, telepathy, dexterity, improvisation and magic of the full-forward line was incredible; from just nine possessions, Connolly scored 3-2 and set up 2-1. From just eight possessions, Hayes scored 2-1 and assisted 1-2. Hayes was also centrally involved in the creation of 0-2 from just being a menace under long puckouts.

Horgan may have only scored 0-2 from play but he was centrally involved in the creation of two goals as well as being fouled for two converted frees.

O’Mahony had his best game for Cork while Dalton was also immense. 

From 15 plays, Dalton scored 0-3 from play while he was centrally involved in 2-4. Dalton’s long-range missile striking and free-taking was also a signature emblem of Cork’s performance.

When Horgan was substituted in the 55th minute, he did so to a deserved standing ovation. 

Similar to that great Dutch team, Horgan is viewed as the Johan Cruyff of this Cork side in how his artistic licence and liberal expressionism is so intrinsically connected to the Cork character and how the public want their teams to play and perform.

There are so many similar connections to Cork’s desperate pursuit of an All-Ireland and that Dutch team’s quest to win a World Cup – but there is one distinct difference. 

The Netherlands never had a history of success before that tournament whereas Cork hurlers have only ever been judged by one currency – winning All-Irelands.

That Dutch team was loved as much for how they played than what they won but this Cork team will only really be cherished in their own county for winning an All-Ireland.

Winning it in style in two weeks, especially against Tipperary, would add a sweetness to the taste. 

Yet winning is all that really matters for Cork at this stage