Having played three championship matches in as many weeks, Cork captain John Gardiner is in no doubt that the break over the last couple of weeks has helped the side. Cork had three tough matches against Dublin, Galway and Clare to earn a place in the All-Ireland semi final and the Rebels are delighted to have had the time to recharge their batteries. Gardiner has played a captain's part in the side's run to the last four and he admitted that the three games had certainly taken their toll on the squad. "It has been a hectic enough with our last three games coming in successive weeks, and it was great to get the break before the semi final," said Gardiner. "With due respect to Dublin, we trained very hard ahead of the game against them, and it was probably tougher than we thought it would be. It was just a matter of keeping things ticking over after and we thought we were as fresh as needed leading into the match against Galway, but it's been very demanding to have three competitive games in three weeks. "We're looking forward to the semi final now, and we're just hoping that there will be no repeat of our first half display against Clare the last day." Tweet

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