Man-of-the-match Brian Hayes said Cork had 100% belief they could beat Limerick in the All-Ireland semi-final.
Cork were down by two points after a scintillating first half but inspired by the likes of Hayes, Connolly, Barrett and Fitzgibbon, they kicked onto by 1-28 to 0-29.
It brings an end to Limerick's drive for a historic fifth All-Ireland senior hurling title in a row with Cork setting up a repeat of the 2013 decider against Clare.
Having lost their first two games in the championship, against Waterford and Clare respectively, Cork rode their luck at times this year but beating Limerick in Páirc Uí Chaoimh in the Munster championship breathed new life into the team.
6 July 2024; Brian Hayes of Cork celebrates after scoring his side's first goal during the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship semi-final match between Kilkenny and Clare at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by John Sheridan/Sportsfile Photo by John Sheridan/Sportsfile
Hayes said that despite those early hiccups, Cork always believed in themselves.
"Ah it's brilliant. It's where we wanted to be at the start of the year," he told The Sunday Game.
"It's great to see the Cork crowd like this. And we deserve it as well I think. So yeah, delighted."
"We felt like we didn't perform in the last two games, we hit the ground running in training. We beat them the last day, and we tried to do the same again there today."
As an insight into the confidence and belief in the Cork team, Hayes said "we're firm believers that the hardest games we're getting are internally, our As v Bs" when asked if he seen this performance coming in training.
"We need to drive that again over the next few weeks as well."
"We believe 100% in our team. Thankfully we got over the line again today."
Player of the Match Brian Hayes had faith that Cork could bounce back after a couple of poor performances. Boy did they do that!
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