HOW TO FIX A CORK-UP

Leesiders rue second-half collapse as wait for the MacCarthy Cup goes on...but it's not all doom and gloom

- GARRY DOYLE

THEY were booed by their own fans - a season full of promise had just turned to disaster.

No, we aren't talking about Cork here. Well, at least not yet.

Instead we are reflecting on how last summer ended for Tipperary — with recrimination, bitterness and a fallout which lasted throughout the winter.

And look at them now.

Cork won't want to. After the cancellation of Monday's official homecoming, they don't even want to look at themselves.

Yet they must. A summer of soul searching awaits and, whether they like it or not, they need to turn to their conquerors for inspiration.

Because a year ago Tipperary were in a much worse position than Cork are now. While it helped that they had a quintet of newcomers ready to refresh their panel, Tipp’s biggest change wasn't in personnel but in attitude. No longer prepared to be second rate or second best, they became fitter, tougher, more resilient.

Cork need to do that now too as that’s three All-Ireland final defeats in five years.

And the first rule of any Championship-winning team is that before you set about beating everyone else, you have to stop beating yourself.

DON'T BECOME THE NEW MAYO

CORK have now lost five All-Ireland finals since 2005. That's bad.

But hurling has known worse famines. Galway, for a start, lost nine finals between their first and second All-Irelands, and a further six between their fourth and fifth Liam MacCarthys. Yet by the time they finally got across the line in 2017, the past ceased to be relevant.