Cork hurlers may have been at the wrong end of a storming Tipperary finish earlier in the league, but it was the Rebels who clawed their way in dramatic circumstances against Dublin to book their place in the Allianz League Division 1 final.
The Rebels prevailed by a point in Sunday's semi-final at Nowlan Park, breaking Dublin hearts.
At one point, Ger Cunningham's side led by 12 points, but would eventually be reeled in by Jimmy Barry Murphy's outfit, for whom Patrick Horgan bagged 0-17 of their 1-27 total.
For the Cork boss, the satisfying thing was watching his side going about their task in chasing down the Dubs.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport, Barry-Murphy said: "We were very disappointed with our first-half performance; we had a number of goal chances which we didn't take.
"The instruction was to try and peg a couple of points back after the interval, try and get back into the game and see what would happen.
"We were hoping for the best. Thankfully at the end, we got over the line. It was a great game to be involved in."
JBM also had praise for a Dublin side that only six weeks ago were well beaten by Cork at Croke Park.
"In fairness to Dublin, they were outstanding today and you saw a true performance from them," he added.
"They really put it up to us and it took an awful lot of character from our lads to come back. Pat [Horgan] fired over some great points. Paudie O'Sullivan got a great goal when he came in, and at a crucial time too."
