Job well done as Cork move on to a far tougher test against Galway

When it comes to All-Ireland knockout games, be it a quarter-final, semi or final, the only thing that matters is winning.

You can talk about stats and scorelines and how Cork dominated from start to finish, but before the game, if you asked those involved, would they take a one or two-point win and move on, they would.

But this was as comprehensive a win as you could get from a Cork side that dominated from start to finish.

Will this game do them any good ahead of their clash with Galway in two weeks time?

Not a lot, as they probably will have far tougher training sessions in the coming weeks than this game.

Offaly were simply no match for Cork, and as a contest, the game was more or less over just 15 minutes in.

By then, the Rebels had built up a 1-7 to 0-1 lead, and it became a how much, rather than if, Cork would win.

The tone was set just 25 seconds in when Shane Barrett got their first score as they tore into Offaly early on and never gave them an inch.

When they went long with puck-outs, Mark Coleman and Rob Downey were picking them off with ease to turn defence into attack and put Offaly under constant pressure.

When they went short, then Brian Hayes, Diarmuid Healy, and Barrett, among others, made it as difficult for them to work the ball out.

They simply had no answers to a Cork side that was miles ahead in every area of the game.

Had Offaly been given the chance to call a halt by half-time, they might have considered that option as they knew it was only going to get worse.

Cork’s first-half tally of 5-19 must be one of their highest ever in a championship game, if not the highest for 35 minutes.

That tally is more than enough to win most games, and even if Cork didn’t score after the break, they would still have come out on top.

That’s how far they were ahead of Offaly, and no doubt the question now of how the championship is structured will become a talking point again.

When you see the likes of Tipp and Waterford knocked out early on, one can only wonder, does it need reshaping after ties like this?

That’s for another day, but Cork can move on after a job well done and one where they were simply superb.

But at that, there will be some aspects of their play that manager Ben O’Connor will not be happy with.

They let Offaly far more into the game after the break than he would have liked and gave away two sloppy goals.

Defensively, they lapsed for both, and that’s something they can’t afford to do against Galway, who, let's face it, are a far better side than Sunday’s opponents.

Cork hit 1-11 in the second half, which you would be happy with most of the time. But after their first half tally, they would have been looking to drive on and score more than that.

Of course, it’s never easy to keep that momentum up, and the soaring heat didn’t make it any easier, but you would have been looking for a bigger tally after the break.

However, overall, there can be no complaints about Cork’s display as they had a job to do and did so superbly.

The likes of Alan Walsh and Brian Roche showed there is strength-in-depth in the Cork panel. When William Buckley and Barry Walsh were introduced, it was evident from their efforts that they know there is a fight now for a starting jersey.

So it’s job done for Cork and move on to a far tougher test against Galway in two weeks time.