Analysis: If Cork had turned possession into scores against Mayo, they'd now face Louth for an All-Ireland final

Cork didn't perform well enough on Saturday afternoon to end their 14-year wait to return to the All-Ireland semi-finals.

That's the bottom line but it was a golden opportunity against an inexperienced Mayo who gave eight players their Croke Park championship debuts and whose Man of the Match was U20 forward Darragh Beirne.

In a game that hinged on fine margins between two well-matched teams who were both rough around the edges, Cork's execution was very sloppy. They wasted the chance to take on Louth, in their first All-Ireland semi-final since 1957, to get to the big stage. The draw, pairing Kerry and Dublin in the other semi, was favourable, which makes the loss sting even more.

They had 14 wides to Mayo's seven. Cork's inside trio of Steven Sherlock, Mark Cronin and Chris Óg Jones finished with 0-11, and just 0-4 from play, while Mayo got 0-19 from Kobe McDonald, Ryan O'Donoghue and Beirne, 0-13 from play.

The victors nailed five two-pointers and Cork raised just two orange flags. 

Mayo scored 0-3 from three-up breaches, one just before the half-time whistle that negated a brilliant Tommy Walsh block on Kobe McDonald and meant it was level at the break.

It's not that Cork didn't have enough possession to put up a decent score, as they were ahead 30-23 on kick-outs overall, and picked off 14 of Mayo's 30. 

That was a platform to gain the upper-hand but Andy Moran's charges were ferocious defensively and Cork fell into their bad habits of not feeding quick deliveries inside. Donnacha McHugh was a standout in how relentlessly he hounded Sherlock but how often did he get a pop pass in front? 

Jones' pace punched a few holes in the Mayo rearguard but Cork were too content in moving the ball around the arc instead of cutting through. 

Luke Fahy was a loss as he had done well against Meath and Donegal raiding from wing-back but Mayo had their homework done, they didn't overcommit to the likes of Seán McDonnell, Rory Maguire and Brian O'Driscoll when they were attacking down the flanks. 

Cork just didn't do enough damage from turning over Mayo kick-outs either. They picked off a Jack Livingstone restart in their strong second quarter spell  but with a three-on-two overlap but Dara Sheedy's pass went right instead of left. It was a golden goal chance wasted. 

Mayo brought a far bigger crowd to GAA headquarters than Cork so John Cleary's side needed to forge ahead in the first half to plant some seeds of doubt. They never managed to and the most they led by was three points. 

When the contest was on a knife-edge after 50 minutes and Paul Walsh, effective at wing-forward, and Rory Maguire had cut the gap to a point, Mayo went on a run to move 0-19 to 0-14 ahead. That re-energised their fans and Cork never regained the momentum.

As happened in 2011, 2015 and '17, the Rebels' summer ended at the hands of Mayo. It doesn't undo the good work across the campaign overall, including a return to Division 1 of the league for next year, but it shows Cork's progress is incremental.

FRESH FACES

Cork need to find a few more players and tweak their style to be able to reach the 25-plus points required to win at the business end of championship. 

It would help if Conor Corbett had a full league without injury, as he's never been able to deliver on his vast underage promise, and David Buckley deserves an extended audition. Playmaker Sheedy will mature after a breakout season. 

Perhaps lively forwards like Nemo's Bryan Hayes, Naomh Abán's Ed Myers or Douglas' Seán Coakley can make the step up from U20. Éire Óg's Darragh Clifford will surely add some flair to midfield or as a wing-forward and a in county the size of Cork, there have to be hidden gems waiting to be unearthed...