CORK 1-18   CLARE 0-10

THE transformation of Cork hurlers from mutinous malcontents last winter to confident contenders this summer has been completed with emphatic certainty.

Clare arrived in Thurles yesterday with a jackpot carryover of lofty ambitions after making Tipperary look like bewildered novices in the Guinness Munster quarter-final three weeks earlier, only to discover the route to the final blocked by a Cork side which majored in all the key requirements.

Building momentum came easy to them as they turned on the motivation taps but there was a whole lot more to their crushing victory than an obsessive desire to restore their pride after the annus horribilis which was 2002. Their touch, timing, passing and finishing were all on a different level to anything Clare could reach on a day when Banner misery was compounded by the dismissal of Colin Lynch for an off-the-ball foul on Mickey O'Connell.

The pair had niggled each other all day (O'Connell was booked in the 56th minute) but Lynch over-stepped the mark in the 65th minute and was sent off on a straight red card which, at the very least, will leave him out for a month while the possibility of a three-month ban also hangs over him.

Quite what impact that has on Clare's relaunch mission remains to be seen but there is absolutely no doubt that the absence of the injured David Hoey and the suspended Seanie McMahon holed them well below the water line.

Seanie's centre-back berth was filled by Diarmuid McMahon, who dropped back from midfield with Conor Plunkett moving to No 5 and Ollie Baker coming in at midfield. It looked like a reasonable compromise but it didn't disguise the damaging impact of lining out without two high class half-backs.

Clare badly missed their captain's long range free-taking skills (Plunkett missed three which McMahon would probably have pointed) while his presence under the high ball would also have been hugely significant. As it was, the Cork half-forwards powered through on several occasions while full-forwards Joe Deane and Setanta Ó hAilpín were full of constructive intent.

Clare's problem basket was filled even higher by the sheer majesty of the Cork defence where all six prospered, with Pat Mulcahy, Wayne Sherlock and Tom Kenny outstanding.

Clare repeatedly shuffled their forward line in an effort to locate some fertile ground but only Tony Carmody, Niall Gilligan and sub Barry Murphy managed to find any. Even then, they were given very little feeding time by the alert Cork wardens.

Clare's more profitable period came just after the break when they cut Cork's seven point interval lead to three points (1-7 to 0-7) in the space of six minutes. Murphy's introduction looked as if it might change the entire balance in front of Cork goal while Gilligan's game also expanded as he shot 0-3 in three minutes. It was a decent return, although one of those points really should have been a goal.

On another day it might not have been as important but with goal chances so rare, Clare were left regretting Gilligan's failure to keep his shot lower. Still, Clare were ranging right up alongside Cork whose response was as quick, effective and match-winning.

Setanta Ó hAilpín, a rapidly developing talent who possesses a sharp eye, a good hand and endless courage, scooped over a point while Deane added two, one from a free. Once again, there was clear daylight between the teams and Clare supporters in the crowd of 35,475 couldn't miss the rapidly advancing shadows. Cork led by 1-11 to 0-9 at the three-quarter stage and were now at full throttle whereas Clare could sense that however much honesty or effort they injected, they were still heading for the All-Ireland qualifiers.

Cork could even afford not to extract full value from a penalty, gained in the 63rd minute, when Alan Browne was fouled in the square. Diarmuid O'Sullivan's drive was turned over the bar but even as Clare drew some consolation from denying him a goal, they saw Lynch, being dismissed after an umpire had drawn Willie Barrett's attention to his clash with O'Connell.

Gilligan's pointed free in the 70th minute was Clare's only score in the final quarter, a period in which Cork added 0-7, 0-5 from play.

Ironically, the first quarter was equally distressing for Clare, who didn't score until the 21st minute by which time Cork had hit 1-5, the goal coming from Deane in the 13th minute when he batted the ball home after Ben O'Connor had made the crucial link. Cork's pace and intensity left Clare stranded in that crucial opening 20 minutes and while things had stabilised somewhat by half-time when Cork led by 1-6 to 0-2, it was still a mountain for Cyril Lyons' weary climbers.

Davy Fitzgerald, Brian Lohan were delivering their trademark defiance around goal but the sheer breadth of Cork's game was so awesome that Clare simply couldn't compete man for man. Clare's early second half surge raised hopes of a revival but the decisive manner in which Cork hit the accelerator again was, in many ways, reminiscent of 1999. And what happened that year? Exactly. They won the All-Ireland title.

SCORERS

Cork: J Deane 1-8 (0-6f), Setanta O hAilpin 0-3, N McCarthy 0-2, T McCarthy, M O'Connell, B O'Connor, J Gardiner (f), D O'Sullivan (pen) 0-1 each.
Clare: N Gilligan 0-4 (1f), T Carmody 0-3, B Murphy, A Markham, C Plunkett ('65') 0-1 each.

CORK - D Óg Cusack 7; W Sherlock 8, P Mulcahy 9, D O'Sullivan 8; T Kenny 9, R Curran 7, Seán Óg O hAilpin 7; J Gardiner 7 M O'Connell 7; B O'Connor 8, N McCarthy 8, T McCarthy 8; Setanta O hAilpin 9, J Deane 9, A Browne 6.

CLARE - D Fitzgerald 8; B Quinn 7, B Lohan 8, F Lohan 6; C Plunkett 6, D McMahon 6, G Quinn 6; O Baker 6, C Lynch 7; A Markham 6, T Griffin 6, T Carmody 7; N Gilligan 7, A Quinn 5, J O'Connor 6. Subs: B Murphy 7 for A Quinn (ht), D O'Connell for Baker (64), G Considine for Markham (64), J Reddan for Carmody (68).

REF - W Barrett (Tipperary).