Cork’s All-Ireland SHC semi-final performance against Galway was as poor as Michael ‘Babs’ Keating has ever seen them produce.

The Rebels famously suffered a second half meltdown in last year’s All-Ireland final against Tipperary, but ‘Babs’ feels last weekend’s display was lacking from start to finish.

“The money that was spent on training the Cork hurling team all year may as well have been dumped in the Lee,” the Tipp legend wrote in his column for The Irish Sun.

“At least it would have spared their supporters the latest dose of pain they endured at Croke Park. If you were given a few hours to cobble together 15 players from somewhere to go out and play against Galway on Saturday without any preparation, they would have put up a better challenge than Cork did.

“Since I first started watching hurling in 1952, never have I ­witnessed a performance worse than the one that will extend their wait for an All-Ireland SHC title to a 22nd year.

“When Ben O’Connor succeeded Pat Ryan as Cork manager, he was equipped with everything he needed to ensure that lessons were learned from what happened in the second half of last year’s final. Yet despite the parallels that are being drawn to that collapse against Tipperary, the second half was not the issue this time.

“It was all 70-odd minutes. From the moment the ball was thrown in, Cork were like rabbits caught in the headlights.”

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