John Allen comes out of the Cork dressing-room. All smiles. As easy-going as his predecessor was intense. Yet the succession seems natural. He professes himself to be delighted. For team and self. Shrugs shoulders. Describes his day.

"I was worried of course. The conversation between myself and the rest of the selectors, well there was hardly any for 20 minutes. I was saying to myself, 'God, this is a great day out.' Then suddenly the whole thing turned around and there was a lot of noise on the channels. I'm not sure we were chasing the game but we had to be on our toes all the time. Waterford were full of life and full of running and full of changes."

The relief will have lain in the fact his team responded. It's more interesting to see how a team reacts to adversity than to see how it reacts to a spreading margin in their favour.

"We were down at half-time and then we went two points more down. Wind was certainly worth something - we had that in the second half. Brian Corcoran was unbelievable. He got a goal and two points, was it? He's amazing that he can just do that, get really crucial scores."

The comeback didn't disguise what necessitated it in the first place. Allen will be talking about work ethic next week.

"After 20 minutes or so we were a little bit content to live on the cushion. We showboated a bit, threw the ball around a bit too much. In the second half we were a little more direct."

John Gardiner stood behind his manager, both taking questions simultaneously in the gloom of the Semple corridor.

"We still had to defend all the way. Pat Mul was outstanding in the first half. Brian Corcoran always pops up at the right times though. Eoin Kelly got a goal there last year and they said it was one of the great goals. Brian Corcoran did exactly the same there. It was an outstanding goal. Goes to show that he works so hard in there. It paid off in the end. He improves all the time, keeps producing it."

The habits of being a winning team have stayed with Cork.

"We try not to panic, it's been drilled in for the last few years. We believe in what we do and the game plan. It pulls us through more often than not. We didn't panic today, we came through in the end."

Joe Deane, still in playing gear, stood a little way down the corridor describing his early goal.

"The ball broke, Fergal Hartley had it, I think Brian got it away from him. It went down to the wire. They proved last year what a great team they are. We want the shortest route to the All-Ireland final. It's five matches to win an All-Ireland. That's one of five on the short route."

Justin McCarthy, at the far end of the hall, was in reflective mood. Losing games like this isn't the nuclear disaster it once was. There's a chance to learn and to gather the good things.

Ken McGrath has had better days, will have them again.

"Four months is a long time," said McCarthy. "He played in February. It's a long break. He gave it everything but there was a lot of open play and the breeze was with Cork. Eoin Kelly gave an outstanding performance, some unbelievable points. He's captain, he's leading by example. He was well up for it. He's a mighty hurler and he is going to get better."

That was the theme. Amid the debris of defeat, Waterford were already looking forward.

"Conceding the goals early didn't worry me too much. I knew there would be a lull period for Cork. When half-time came I suppose the momentum was broken somewhat.

"There was no kind of balls for John Mullane running through . . . he didn't have an outstanding game but other fellas picked it up for him."

A performance here, a missed free there. Waterford know they were within touching distance.

"We have to go into the new system. We'll learn a lot. Fellas will be a bit sharper. The games are on in four weeks' time. We'll have to work away. It was a great display. A break of a ball here and there. I can't crib too much. Cork took advantage."

That's the way it goes.

Ken McGrath was equally sanguine. "We gave Cork a good start, which was crazy, but we played well towards the end of the first half and maybe half-time took some of that. They pulled away in the second half. They're All-Ireland champions. They got the breaks they needed."

Sanguine but not whistling. The back-door route might work out but they weren't tracing it on maps beforehand.

"We're not after winning too much that we'd be passing up Munster championships. We would have loved another Munster final. It's a different route. Hopefully, we'll get to a quarter-final on song."

And that was it. Nobody died. Nobody's summer ended. More to come.