All-Ireland final day and new champions to be crowned.
Just six years ago, hurling fans rejoiced at the romance of Limerick ending a 45-year drought. Now they revel in the novelty of a big day without them.
Such is the price of greatness. Today's finalists have spent long enough in the neighbour's shadow and have their own bare cupboards to worry about.
Cork, second in hurling’s roll of honour with 30 titles, have not brought Liam MacCarthy home since 2005, their longest ever wait eclipsing rivals Tipperary’s 18 from 1971-89.
Clare won just their fourth All-Ireland in 2013, after a replay against the Rebels illuminated by eight goals, including the then-19-year-old Shane O’Donnell’s hat-trick.
O’Donnell is among five Banner survivors from that day, alongside David McInerney, John Conlon, Tony Kelly and sub Seadna Morey.
Cork have three: Veteran forwards Seamus Harnedy, Conor Lehane and Patrick Horgan, the 36-year-old who is three points away from retaking the all-time scoring record from TJ Reid but would settle for scoring one and ridding himself of the unofficial 'best current player not to win an All-Ireland’ belt.
They have taken the long road to get here - it is the first final in either code between two sides already beaten twice in championship.
Both had to rebuild after opening-day trauma in April.
For Cork, it was the surprise defeat to Waterford in round one of Munster that led to manager Pat Ryan performing emergency surgery.
Out went Lehane, Damien Cahalane, Mark Coleman, Ger Millerick, Tommy O'Connell and Seán Twomey. In came Niall O’Leary, Eoin Downey, Tim O’Mahony, Ethan Twomey, Declan Dalton and Brian Hayes.
Coleman, for Twomey, is the only one to have regained his place for today, among just nine of the XV that started the 2021 final thrashing by Limerick.
Meanwhile, Clare had been cruising against the five-in-a-row chasers, nine points up after 52 minutes until three soft goals heralded a horrible collapse.
They put any despair behind them quickly, winning a thrilling 3-26 to 3-24 shootout in round two that left Cork improved but still on the brink of elimination.
The Rebels needed an unlikely-looking first win over the champions since 2019 to survive and they got it – Páirc Uí Chaoimh a rapture of red after Horgan’s injury-time penalty.
Tipp were hammered, goal-machine Alan Connolly grabbing his first championship hat-trick, and Cork were into the knock-out stages.
Labouring past Offaly and then Dublin didn’t exactly raise expectations that they could repeat the trick over the Treaty, especially in a knock-out game at Croke Park, though a superb second-half display sealed a shock but deserved triumph.
Clare had beaten everyone else in Munster but lost their third provincial final in a row to Limerick, in a manner that suggested they were regressing. They were ruthless enough against 14-man Wexford but a third consecutive semi-final heartbreak at the hands of Kilkenny loomed after a dismal first half.
Not this time, Clare shaking themselves to life to catch the Cats in the home straight. In Brian Lohan’s fifth year in charge, he was relieved to no longer be "the nearly team".
"Cork are like a Ferrari convertible: Red, fast and thrilling but open at the back. Clare are tortured artists: prone to both brilliance and self-sabotage"
Lohan might not admit it but he will be happier to be playing Cork. Logic suggests the team that beat the standard setters twice are better than the team that lost to them twice but Clare have had the Rebels' number in three consecutive Munster shootouts.
Never by more than two points but 14-man Cork needed two late goals to get that close three months ago.
Will they be able to perform to the same level as they did against Limerick? As Tipp in 2010 and the 2021 footballers of Mayo learned, the final is a better time to topple a dynasty than the semi.
Cork are like a Ferrari convertible: Red, fast and thrilling but open at the back. Clare are tortured artists: prone to both brilliance and self-sabotage.
Limerick couldn’t handle the deep running of Shane Barrett and the excellent Darragh Fitzgibbon, who has scored 0-22 points from midfield, or the direct threat of Connolly and Brian Hayes.
Clare might not be able to either, despite holding Kilkenny to 18 scores, but one thing they will do that the champions rarely did is go for goal: they scored three against Cork in April and two last year. One brilliant save from Aaron Gillane by Patrick Collins aside, Limerick relied on their trusted formula of building a big points tally, which had usually been enough to get them over the line.
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) July 20, 2024Still thinking about this moment... 50 minutes of hurling to be played after it, but how important was this save by Patrick Collins?#sundaygame #gaa #hurling #cork #patrickcollins pic.twitter.com/n6ztqy0y7e
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) July 7, 2024
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