All-Ireland SHC Quarter-finals: Cork would have been mightily relieved leaving Croke Park last night with their All-Ireland title still intact. Midway through the second half, when the Waterford backs were completely dominant, Cork must have feared this just might not be their day.

Nothing seemed to work, of course, until Brian Corcoran stepped up to the mark with that extremely opportunistic goal. That was the turning point. They needed the breathing space because it was getting very dangerous.

Cork over-elaborated their hurling, with the best centre back in the country, Ronan Curran, getting caught in possession numerous times and the Cork backline in general way off its usual dominance.

The goal obviously deflated Waterford and was the catalyst to a comfortably victory in the home straight but it was anything but comfortable throughout the 70 minutes.

The Waterford half-back line was outstanding all day, while moving Michael Walsh to the middle worked for long periods as he kept with the surging runs of the Cork midfielders Tom Kenny and Jerry O'Connor.

In fact, right throughout the field Waterford matched Cork. They were hungry and there were some great performances. In particular, Séamus Prendergast scored four wonderful points off Curran.

The underperforming Cork players now realise they must improve their sharpness and motivation. But that's what happens when you win an All-Ireland medal. This is their third year back at this stage and it is hard to keep the drive going.

It cannot be overstated how much Corcoran rescued them. Also, John Gardiner's long-range strike and a rare point from Seán Óg both raised the spirits at vital periods.

There were other solid performances, like that of Diarmuid O'Sullivan at full back, even if Paul Flynn was completely immobile.

And in the corner Pat Mulcahy hurled a fine game. He now owns the number two shirt, which is no mean feat considering Wayne Sherlock is in the panel.

That is where the positives end. When Cork look back on this game they will see clearly the mountain of improvements they must make.

Their half-forward line was just non-existent yesterday. Niall and Timmy McCarthy were poor and deserved to be replaced. Ben O'Connor was well below the sharpness required for this level, while some of Jerry O'Connor's passing was ludicrous.

In fairness to Kenny, he papered over many of the midfield cracks.

Waterford completely snuffed out the over-elaboration of the hand pass. Also, teams are really starting to get to grips with the O'Connor brothers' running game and they will be forced to abandon it - otherwise they will not be good enough to beat Kilkenny.

Waterford will be devastated as they seemed to do everything right. They hunted in packs and got scores at pivotal stages. Unfortunately, several of the top forwards in the country went missing. They needed either Eoin Kelly, John Mullane or Flynn to set the game alight but all three were relatively quiet. Several points apiece were required from these boys but instead it was left up to Prendergast and Flynn frees.

Maybe Waterford took Clare a little too much for granted two weeks ago, as this performance would certainly have been enough to see off Anthony Daly's team.

After playing against Clare in the qualifiers, I couldn't see them troubling anyone thereafter but they regrouped and Daly has them fired up again. Yesterday, they beat a Wexford team coming in on form.

I didn't fancy them to live with the pace of Wexford but their physical presence was the deciding factor. For example, Diarmuid Lyng was dominated by Diarmuid McMahon.

The inconsistencies of the Wexford team came out once more. The whole team were very flat in every aspect of their play, including some terrible ball handling, and it was very evident early on that nothing was going to plan.

When tactics like using Paul Carley at wing back clearly failed after 15 minutes, he should have been switched.

Instead, he was left there and contributed to at least two Clare scores due to poor clearances.

Even one of the best goalkeepers in the country, Damien Fitzhenry, had an off day. He was partially at fault for the goal and another ball around the square was nervously pushed out for a '65. That's just not Fitzhenry but the whole team lacked confidence. The gambles that came off in the Leinster final all failed.

Clare are now in an All-Ireland semi-final and that's what it's all about. Being there. They have the strength to live with anyone. Yesterday they did what was required of them but they know they need another two or three gears next time.