Galway have booked their place in the All-Ireland Hurling Final after a sensational second-half display saw them beat Cork 2-26 to 1-18.

It was a thrilling first half at Croke Park as the Rebel County and the Tribesmen went point for point and goal for goal, with the Munster county taking a slender 1-13 to 1-12 lead going into the sheds.

However, as we saw in last year’s All-Ireland Final, Cork petered out once the second half began, and Galway began to pull away. The Leinster champs were hammering point after point over the bar as Cork uncharacteristically pulled shots wide.

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Darragh Neary of Galway celebrates scoring a goal. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

Galway scored 1-14 in the second half, with 13 individual scorers throughout the match, while Cork just scored 5 points. Darragh Fitzgibbon was given his marching orders after a second yellow for making contact with Ronan Glennon’s helmet with an attempted block.

Conor Cooney’s goal deep in injury time was the icing on the cake as N17 was blaring out the Croke Park speakers at full-time as Galway reached their first All-Ireland Final since 2018, where they’ll face one of Limerick or Clare, who play in Sunday’s semi-final.

It was a great afternoon of hurling; however, before the match there was already tension as on the RTÉ broadcast, former Cork goalkeeper Dónal Óg Cusack took umbrage with the fact that the 40m arc used in football was still on the pitch for the All-Ireland Hurling semi-final.

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Dónal Óg Cusack at Sunday’s All-Ireland Senior Championship final. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

‘What’s that line there?’ Cusack quipped. ‘Is that one of the piggery zones McGeeney is on about? What is that doing on a hurling field?

‘Something wrong with football now that you get two points for kicking it over the bar.’

It was very much with tongue in cheek, no doubt, but the unnecessary dig has caught the ire of many football fans, feeling that Cusack is taking umbrage over nothing.

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Donal Óg Cusack. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

‘He is forever looking for something to be outraged about….’ one fan posted on X. ‘What a sickening man, always trying to put a division between hurling and football. An ignorant person,’ said another.

‘What a twit he is. Pure insecurity,’ commented one user. ‘Dónal Óg shows himself up for the gob***** he is. Has to be all about him!’ posted one very angry user.

Well, as many were also quick to point out, Cusack’s beloved Cork have their season over now, and all eyes are on July 19 for what will be a blockbuster All-Ireland Hurling Final.