For the first time in 11 seasons, neither Diarmuid O'Sullivan nor Donal Og Cusack plays championship for Cork today.

Together, they have been Cork's longest-serving goalkeeper and fullback combination in the county's proud history; in fact, as Table 1 shows, had they filled those jerseys today, they'd have doubled the number won by their nearest challengers, Tom Mulcahy and the late, great Con Murphy.

And where do the Cloyne combo rank in the all-time, all-counties list?

As Table 2 shows, second.

Amazingly, the top four places are filled by tandems that have only parted ways in recent matches through Philip Maher's 2006 injury, James McGarry's demotion and Brian Lohan's retirement (not to mention Davy Fitzgerald's 'departure') followed by the Cork suspensions.

Of the old-timers, Kilkenny's Jim Dermody/Peter O'Reilly, Tipperary's Tony Reddin/Tony Brennan and Wexford's Art Foley/Nick O'Donnell combos lead the way, but possibly the most enduring one other than Fitzy/Lohan is Ollie Walsh's with Pa Dillon, who played together for 12 seasons.

PUTTING A CORK IN IT Table 1: Cork's most capped goalie/full-back combinations in the senior hurling championship Games Names Years 31Donal Og Cusack/Diarmuid O'Sullivan 1999-2007 16 Tom Mulcahy/Con Murphy 1946-1950 15 Paddy Barry/Tom O'Donoghue 1965-1969 14 Ger Cunningham/Richie Browne 1986-1991 12 Dave Creedon/John Lyons 1952-1955 12 Mick Cashman/John Lyons 1956-1960 10 Jim Buttimer/Batt Thornhill 1939-1941 10 Paddy Barry/Pat McDonnell 1970-1972

CODY'S SHARPSHOOTERS LEAD THE WAY

When Kilkenny substitute Eoin Reid popped over a neat point at the town end in Portlaoise last Sunday he became the Cats' 11th scorer and ensured his side joined an elite group of teams who have had as many flag raisers in a single match.

DEADLY DUOS

Games Names Years 51Davy Fitzgerald/Brian Lohan (Clare) 1994-2006 31 Donal Og Cusack-Diarmuid O'Sullivan (Cork) 1999-2007 25 James McGarry/Noel Hickey (Kilkenny) 2000-2006 24 Brendan Cummins/Philip Maher (Tipperary) 2000-2006 19 Jim Dermody/Peter O'Reilly (Kilkenny) 1931-1935 19 Tony Reddin/Tony Brennan (Tipperary) 1949-1953 19 Art Foley//Nick O'Donnell (Wexford) 1952-1957 19 Damien Fitzhenry/Daragh Ryan (Wexford) 2000-2005 18 Ned Power/Austin Flynn (Waterford) 1959-1965 18 Damien Fitzhenry/Ger Cush (Wexford) 1993-1999 17 Ollie Walsh/Pa Dillon (Kilkenny) 1960-1971 Just two weeks after Cork registered 10 scorers for the first time against a fellow top-nine county, this was Kilkenny's first time to witness 11 men find the range against a top-nine county.

Indeed, this was just the 13th occasion that 11 players scored for one team in a senior hurling championship game, the first such occurrence not unfolding until 1981 and then by a team who actually lost the match! That unlucky combination was Waterford who lost a thrilling first round match to Clare on a 3-14 to 2-15 scoreline, with nine Decies starters and two subs keeping the umpires busy.

Not until last Sunday, 26 years on, did a clash of top-nine counties produce 11 scorers for one side.

CORK'S NUMBER ONE NUMBER ONE

Just as Davy Fitzgerald was determined to equal the number of championship caps of Christy Ring, Donal Og Cusack is closing in on that of another Cork legend, his mentor and friend, Ger Cunningham, on 50.

Incidentally, while Donal Og has only had three full-backs (Mulcahy, O'Sullivan and John Browne), Cunningham had no fewer than 11 different players wearing the number three in front of him (see table 3).

BETCHA DON'T KNOW THIS NOW

Since 1963 Cork have hurled 139 championship games and between the posts for all but five has been either Paddy Barry (31), Martin Coleman (18), Ger Cunningham (50) or Donal Og Cusack (35). Waterford have had no fewer than 14 goalkeepers during the same time!

But can you name the three Table 3: Cork's most capped custodians 50Ger Cunningham '81-'98 35 Donal Og Cusack '99-'07 31 Paddy Barry '64-'74 25 Tom Mulcahy '43-'50 18 Martin Coleman '70-'79 15 Mick Cashman '56-'62 14 Jim Buttimer '34-'40 13 Jeremiah Burke '27-'29 13 John Coughlan '26-'31 12 Dave Creedon '52-'55 NO. 1 REBELS Cork custodians who deputised for the other five fixtures between 1963 and 2006?