Offaly manager Ollie Baker has described the trip to Pairc Ui Chaoimh as the "toughest possible draw" his side could have got, and it's difficult to argue with him after the Rebels' excellent performance in their narrow Munster SHC semi-final defeat to Tipperary a fortnight ago.

While they were gutted to lose, Cork could take a lot of positives from that game which they might have won but for a lack of experience. The performance will also have helped Jimmy Barry-Murphy's men to exorcise the ghosts of their Allianz League final collapse at the hands of Kilkenny at the beginning of May.

By contrast, Offaly have very little to be upbeat about after their crushing 3-15 to 5-23 Leinster SHC semi-final loss to Galway. Having accounted for Wexford in the previous round, the Faithful were expected to push their Connacht opponents to the limit, but were a huge disappointment with their defence being taken to the cleaners by the Galway attack.

It was remarked upon afterwards that some of the Offaly players seemed to be lacking the basic skills, which must be a major source of concern for a county that has always prided itself on producing wonderfully skilful hurlers.

While everything points to a Cork win, they won't need to be reminded that they were extremely fortunate to beat Offaly by a point, 2-17 to 2-16, in last year's qualifiers at the same venue. It was by far the closest of the three meetings they've had in the qualifiers since 2007, with the Rebels winning the previous two in a canter.

However, Cork have improved immeasurably since last year's encounter and, even though dual star Eoin Cadogan has opted to play for the footballers this weekend, they should still have too much for an Offaly team that will struggle to pick themselves up so soon after the Galway debacle.

Verdict: Cork

Cork - A Nash; S O'Neill, B Murphy, C O'Sullivan; T Kenny, C Joyce, W Egan; D Sweetnam , L McLoughlin; C Lehane, C McCarthy, P Cronin; J Coughlan, P O'Sullivan, P Horgan.

Offaly - Eoin Kelly; Conor Hernon, David Kenny, James Rigney, Derek Morkan, Rory Hanniffy, Diarmuid Horan, Kevin Brady, Sean Ryan, Colin Egan, Conor Mahon, Brendan Murphy, Shane Dooley, Joe Bergin, Brian Carroll.

Odds: Cork 1/10, Draw 14/1, Offaly 7/1

Match Details: All-Ireland SHC Phase 2 qualifier, Pairc Ui Chaoimh, Saturday 7 July, 7pm

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