Cork's Michael Shields insists cool heads prevailed during his side's 1-10 to 1-09 victory over Tipperary in the Munster Senior Football Championship semi-final.
The Rebels had to come from behind to beat Tipp, but Shields says his side never panicked.
"We kept our heads, we didn't panic one bit," he told Newstalk's Oisin Langan. "When the goal went in we came up and got the result. We got the goal straightaway. If we had panicked one bit at all, Tipp would be in the Munster final.
"But they're not and we are. That's what is important."
He added: "In the last 10 minutes of the Waterford game and the Tipperary game, we didn't panic. Against Waterford we were down to 13 men. Again today, we were against a Tipp side pushing hard with the wind. We used the ball sensibly and grinded out the result which is a huge motivating factor for us."
Cork's first-half shooting was poor by any inter-county standard, managing just one point in the opening 35 minutes of the game, but Shields again picked positives from their display.
"If we weren't creating chances I'd be worried or concerned. But we were creating chances. Our scoring efficiency was down because we weren't putting the ball over the bar or hitting the back of the net.
"We came in at half-time and we knew it was going to be a dogfight. To be fair to all the lads on the pitch, they kept cool heads and put the ball over the bar when it counted.
"We got the win which is vital for us."
He went on to say that it was only natural for his side to expect criticism after the performance.
"It's irrelevant what the public think. We've no friends in the media anyway. We've not got too many friends in our own county. To be honest we don't care what people have to say out there. We concentrate on ourselves.
"The most important thing today is that we won today and that we're in the Munster final. We've nothing to lose going into it."
Michael Shields celebrates his side's goal. Image: ©INPHO/Tommy Dickson
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