Kingdom come ... Rebels march on

Cork 0-16 Mayo 1-10

It will be the third, and perhaps final, installment of one of the summer’s most compelling dramas.

Cork never looked anything other than comfortable yesterday.

Mayo arrived in the capital, with whispers about how they have discovered scoring forwards. Twice this year, they had scored 20 points or more in a championship game.

However, it was the same old story when they ran out onto Croke Park. Mayo’s shooting let them down in spectacular fashion.

Once again, their kicking in front of posts lacked the conviction needed at this level.

Even Ciaran McDonald’s late penalty never looked like signalling the comebacks of comebacks.

The game had already entered its four additional minutes by the time of McDonald’s confident strike. Mayo were dead, if not quite buried.

Don’t let the lethargy of the drawn Munster final fool you, this is an extremely good Cork side.

Aside from Colin Corkery’s white boots, they have enough talent dotted around the field to make a re-vitalised Kerry side very wary.

While Corkery inevitably ended Cork’s top scorer yesterday, it was Brendan Jer O’Sullivan who gave the most memorable performance.

He scored four points, including a fantastic effort from the left flank after 29 minutes, but it was his work-rate that impressed the most.

O’Sullivan’s display stood out in a terrific team performance. From Anthony Lynch in the corner to Corkery being the usual nuisance up front, Cork controlled a game in which they trailed only once.

That was in the first minute, when David Brady slotted over a fabulous score, after a good build-up involving Trevor Mortimer.

This appeared to signal Brady would rule the roost in midfield, but he was soon over-shadowed by Graham Canty.

Larry Tompkins moved Canty to midfield in the Munster final and it is turning out to be a master-stroke.

He was untouchable yesterday, climbing higher than anyone to fetch ball and capping his contribution with a fine point in the 14th minute.

That point, which put Cork 4-2 ahead, owed much to the toil of Eoin Sexton. Even in those early stages it was obvious Mayo could not handle the attacking verve of Cork’s wing-backs.

Although, the dimensions of Croke Park’s new surface curtailed their work-rate towards the end, Sexton, Ronan McCarthy and Martin Cronin were bundles of energy for the entire game.

They revelled in the wide open spaces the complexion of the game afforded both teams.

Cork may have been settling into a pattern around this time, but the sight of Philip Clifford limping off after 15 minutes caused a few grimaces.

Clifford was purring in the opening exchanges, threatening to re-capture his ‘99 form.

Fortunately, O’Sullivan turned on the style to such an extent Clifford wasn’t missed.

He was the chief architect as Cork raced into a six-point lead that could have been more if it hadn’t been for the agility of Peter Burke.

The Mayo keeper made two wonderful saves in the first half, denying Joe Kavanagh and O’Sullivan.

While Burke was keeping Mayo in the game, their forwards were doing their best to lose it. They missed three scoreable frees in quick succession, James Horan and Trevor Mortimer the guilty parties.

It was a day the Mayo forwards would rather forget.

McDonald’s introduction spurred a mini-revival, with himself and Brian Maloney narrowing the gap to four, 0-9 to 0-5.

But on the stroke of the interval Stephen Carolan hit a bad wide that would have brought Mayo to within a goal.

Mayo drew first blood in the second half, McDonald nailing his second point, but Cork quickly opened up a five-point margin.

The scorers were Corkery and Colin Crowley, who hit a great point which started with Sean Levis in the corner and saw every sector of team involved.

When O’Sullivan fired his third point in the 49th minute, Cork were 12-7 ahead and there looked to be no way back for Mayo. Lynch and O’Sullivan were powerful in the last defensive line, but it didn’t really matter. Whenever Mayo got near the posts, confidence seemed to desert them.

The teams traded points up until injury time when Maloney was pulled down in the square.

McDonald converted, but it was too little, too late. Cork were impressive. Whether they were impressive enough to beat Kerry, though, is debatable.

The defence looks solid and the midfield partnership of Canty and Murphy will pose a test for anyone but the 11 wides will tax Tompkins’ mind in the coming weeks.

Still, Cork and Kerry in Croke Park on All-Ireland semi-final day. Indeed, let the hype begin.

Scorers: Cork C Corkery(0-6, 3 frees), BJ O’Sullivan( 0-4)J Kavanagh, M McCarthy, D O’Sullivan, C CrowleyGCanty, P Clifford(0-1 each) Mayo: C McDonald(1-3, 1penalty, 2 frees)B Maloney, T Mortimer (0-2 each), D Brady, J Horan, S Fitzxmaurice(0-1 each)

CORK: K O’Dwyer; S Levis, C O’Sullivan, A Lynch, E Sexton, R McCarthy, M Cronin; N Murphy, G Canty; B GO’Sullivan, J Kavanagh, M McCarthy, P Clifford, C Corkery, F Murray Subs C Crowley for Clifford(15mins), C Murphy for Murray(44 mins), J O’Donoghue for M McCarthy(52 mins), D O’Sullivan for Kavanagh(59mins), Micheal Cronin for Canty(64 mins)

MAYO: P Burke; K Mortimer, D Heaney, G Ruane, N Connelley, J Nallen, A Higgins; D Brady, D Tiernan; C McManaman, T Mortimer, J Gill, S Carolan, B Maloney, J Horan. Subs C McDonald for Gill(25 mins), C Mortimer for Tiernan (44 mins), S Fitzmaurice for McManaman(47 mins), M Moyles for Horan (56 mins), D Sweeney for Carolan(64 mins)

Referee: J Bannon(Longford).