Pat Ryan: Cork 'in a good place' as they seek to end longest drought

Cork manager Pat Ryan says his team are "confident" and "in a good place" as they seek to end a 19-year wait for Liam MacCarthy against Clare this Sunday.

Sunday's All-Ireland decider sees a repeat of the 2013 epic, which was regarded as a wildly novel pairing in the context of the early 2010s, and ended with a Clare victory after a replay, a teenage Shane O'Donnell firing a first-half hat-trick.

Neither side rose to those heights in the years that followed, though Cork did win the next Munster final, and Kilkenny, Tipperary and latterly Galway swiftly returned to the top table.

By 2018, the Limerick era abruptly arrived and the rest of the sport has been playing catch-up since.

Cork, with their season on the line, caught them on an unforgettable night in Páirc Uí Chaoimh and then caught them again in the All-Ireland semi-final, scuppering the five-in-a-row in the process.

On Sunday, they now have the chance to bridge a 19-year gap to their last All-Ireland win, the longest drought in Cork hurling history.

"We're confident, we feel we're in a really good place," Ryan told RTÉ Sport in an empty Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

"We also know the challenge that's ahead of us. Clare have been in the top two teams for the last four or five years, in my estimation.

"There'll be huge support up there from two mad hurling counties. It's a 50:50 game. Hopefully we'll get the bounce of the ball on the day and bring Liam MacCarthy home."

It seemed improbable that Cork would wind up in this spot midway through the Munster championship, after opening defeats to Waterford and Clare.

To stay alive, they needed to overcome John Kiely's quasi-invincible outfit in Round 3. Despite a stunning first half display, they found themselves behind in the dying seconds