Cork footballers win should remind hurlers that there is no such thing as a certainty in sport

What happened with the Cork footballers last weekend should serve as a warning to the Cork hurlers in advance of their All-Ireland quarter-final against Offaly.

The footballers went into their game against Donegal in Ballybofey as rank outsiders but came away with a superb victory which has catapulted them into an All-Ireland quarter-final.

Next Sunday, Offaly are given little or no chance against Ben O'Connor's men but when the business end of the season is reached no team should be written off.

The underdog, firstly, must be given the utmost respect from their opponents, they are still in the championship on merit and Offaly emerged from the Leinster championship as a result of defeating Wexford and Kildare and drawing with Dublin and Kilkenny, strong credentials.

That was a very decent return from a county who has fallen from grace over the years but are slowly and surely on an upward trajectory again and for the game in general that is a positive.

We all remember their golden years of the '80s and '90s when they lifted the McCarthy Cup on four occasions with teams littered with quality hurlers who became household names.

The current bunch are probably some distance behind such luminaries as Brian Whelehan, Michael Duignan, Padraic Horan, the Dooley brothers, Johnny Pilkington and so on.

However, in the past few years new stars are beginning to emerge, coming through the ranks in very strong minor and under-20 teams.

Quite a few of them will be lining up against Cork in Thurles on Sunday and have the capabilities to make life difficult enough for those in red jerseys.

In their games with Dublin and Kilkenny nobody would have complained if they had taken full points and were well worthy of the point that they secured in both.

Eoghan Cahill, Adam Screeney and Brian Duignan are dangerous operators in front of goal and Duignan will surely be a big test for Damien Cahalane on the edge of the square Team boss Johnny Kelly and the rest of the management team have assembled a well balanced unit and their draw with Dublin in the Leinster round-robin was one of the best games of the season thus far, a last-gasp point from Donal Burke salvaging the draw for the Dubs.

Killian Sampson, Ben Connelly and Ross Ravenhill are very capable defenders and overall there is a bounce in the Faithful County again.

Yes, Cork are the hottest of fancies to progress to a semi-final collision with Galway a fortnight later but it would be fair to suggest that in attack, in particular, the return must be greater than it was in the Munster final.

A tally of just 1-6 from open play has to be improved on considerably and as a unit the performance of the front six must be a lot better.

There was criticism and maybe with some justification of the timing of those that were introduced as substitutes and the expectation that things will be quicker this time if the need arises.

There will be changes to the starting 15 on Sunday with team captain Darragh Fitzgibbon certain to return.

Tommy O'Connell is ruled out in midfield with a broken thumb and doubts have been expressed about Tim O'Mahony's availability because of another injury.

If that is the case, Fitzgibbon could move back into midfield with Seamie Harnedy, Shane Kingston and Hugh O'Connor being considered in attack.

The status quo should prevail with the back seven from Patrick Collins out and it must be repeated that the Ballinhassig netminder is having a very good season.

The Cork management will be aware of the dangers of going into a game as the firmest of favourites and we only have to go back to last season when Dublin were as good as written off before they played Limerick.

Is this Offaly team better than the Dubs and their championship form has certainly taken on a new lease of life.

They were visitors to SuperValu Pairc Ui Chaoimh for the league encounter between the two counties and Cork cruised to victory that day on a scoreline of 6-20 to 0-20.

Offaly, of course, lost all six games in the secondary competition but they have subsequently become a reinvented team.

Ben O'Connor will ensure that there is no complacency in the Cork camp and will impress upon the players to ignore the nonsense that is being spouted about this game being a bit of a mismatch.

Offaly will seek some early scores to build confidence but in the cold light of day it has to be a Cork victory and then preparation for the Galway test to begin immediately in the aftermath.

In the second quarter-final this weekend between Clare and Galway there is plenty of intrigue involved.

Both counties are coming into this contest on the back of two trouncings in their last encounters, Clare against Cork in the round-robin stage of the Munster championship and the Dubs being dished out a hammering by Galway in the Leinster final.

Clare have been a very up and down side thus far, being torched by Limerick as well in Munster and that was on their home patch.

There was a perception that in the game with Cork that they had already secured their place in the All-Ireland series and maybe were not overly concerned.

No county goes out to lose a game but Brian Lohan will be fully aware that is is a make or break team and that his players must be fully tuned in from the outset.

And contained in this Clare team are quite a number of players who have All-Ireland medals from two years ago and even going back to 2013 when they defeated Cork in Croke Park.

Dublin were hugely disappointing in the Leinster final after defeating Kilkenny earlier and Niall O'Ceallachain will have been working hard since to get that capitulation out of their system.

Clare will be aware of the aerial threat that John Hetherton poses for Dublin in front of goal and how dangerous Donal Burke can be if given the right assistance.

On balance, though, the Banner County seem to carry more of a threat up front with Tony Kelly, Peter Duggan, Diarmuid Stritch and Shane O'Donnell, if they hit top form, capable of testing any defence.

This, of course, is very much a case of the real Clare and Dublin standing up, not what they were in their previous outings.

On paper anyway, this is a much more difficult game to nail down compared to the other quarter-final.

Lohan would love a crack off Limerick in the All-Ireland semi-final but that's back of the mind stuff for now.

On this occasion, however, they look to have the greater balance and experience to get them past a Dublin team that needs a repeat of last season when they took Limerick down at the same stage.

So, at the end of the weekend we should see three Munster teams in the last four of the All-Ireland.

Verdict: 

Cork and Clare victories.