O’Leary points way for Billy’s ‘bonus’

FOLLOWING this championship re-charge for Cork in Portlaoise on Saturday, manager Billy Morgan talked about being in a “bonus” situation by qualifying for next Saturday’s quarter-final against Galway.

Nevertheless, he felt his team had been flattered by their winning margin.

After failing to produce a goal in either of the two games they played in Munster, Cork found the net three times and both Morgan and the Sligo manager Dom Corrigan were in agreement that the second of them had a vital bearing on the outcome.

It came when ‘keeper Philip Greene saved a weakly-hit penalty by Brendan Jer O’Sullivan in the 57th minute and James Masters finished off the rebound.

Its significance lay in the fact that after almost completely losing their way in the second quarter, Sligo responded with a fighting display over the next 15 minutes to narrow the interval deficit to three points. But, they failed to capitalise and Cork had the confidence to soak up the pressure and storm back.

Scores were level three times in the opening 10 minutes before Cork gained an important psychological boost through a well-worked goal from Murphy. “A bit of space opened up and Conor McCarthy spotted me. Lucky for me it went in, because it wasn’t the greatest of shots,’’ he commented.

Cork’s re-arranged attack featured Masters at full-forward at the throw-in, but he was quickly withdrawn to the right wing, leaving John Hayes and Fintan Goold inside on their own, with Kevin McMahon given a roaming role. Steadily gaining a firm grip after the goal, the strategy was successful up to the point that they worked the ball forward in impressive fashion, helped by good support play and good distribution.

Once Murphy and Derek Kavanagh gained control at midfield and they dominated at half-back, Cork dictated the game at will. Sligo were struggling to create scoring opportunities. In the main, they depended on Sean Davey, who quickly moved to midfield after starting at left half-forward.

Noel O’Leary, without question Cork’s outstanding performer, again showed great leadership at wing-back and contributed two good scores before adding a third at a vital stage of the second half.

At the break it was 1-8 to 0-6, but there was a transformation in Sligo’s play on the resumption. It saw Noel McGuire thunder into the game at midfield, a general tightening up in defence and much more creative play in attack. The only drawback was that while they were subjecting Cork to a lot of pressure, after 16 minutes play they had only reduced the margin by two points.

Noel O’Leary’s third point marked an important turning point for Cork in the sense that it helped them lift the siege.

Morgan made it clear that he wasn’t pleased that his team “had lost its shape completely” and did some “silly things” before getting back on track. “But, in fairness, once they got a couple of scores they came back strongly again,’’ he added.

They were well on the way to regaining their grip when Masters got his goal with eight minutes of normal time remaining. Almost immediately afterwards, substitute Gerry McGowan wasted a great opportunity for Sligo when he hit a powerful shot over the bar from close range. And Cork were coasting to victory when McMahon scored the third.

Dominick Corrigan accepted that Cork were the better team on the day. And he agreed that his team could have done with the inspiration of their most accomplished player Eamonn O’Hara, ruled out through injury.

“I felt that if we were able to keep it down to three or four points nearing the three-quarters stage we would have been in with a great chance,’’ he said. “But, the goal which came from the penalty save killed the game as a contest.’’

While Morgan believes that Galway will present a more difficult challenge, an upbeat Noel O’Leary was dismissive of all the talk about “the big teams.” “On any given day any team can win the championship and we are in with as good a chance as any of them,’’ he stated.

Scorers: Cork - J. Masters 1-1; J. Hayes 0-4 (0-2 frees); N. Murphy and K. McMahon 1-0 each; N. O’Leary 0-3; B.J. O’Sullivan 0-2; M. Cronin, C. McCarthy and D. Kavanagh 0-1 each. Sligo: S. Davey 0-4 (0-3 frees); M. Breheny 0-3 (0-2 frees); D. Sloyan, B . Curran, J. McPartland and G. McGowan 0-1 each.

CORK: K. O’Dwyer; N. Geary, G. Canty, G. Murphy; E. Sexton (capt.), A. Lynch, N. O’Leary; N. Murphy, D. Kavanagh; K. McMahon, C. McCarthy, B.J. O’Sullivan; F. Goold, J. Masters, J. Hayes.

Subs: M. Cronin for Sexton (injured, 40th minute); P. Clifford for Goold (51st); D. Hurley for Murphy (63rd); S. Levis for Lynch and A. Cronin for Masters (66th).

SLIGO: P. Greene; P. Naughton, J. Martyn, B. Philips; P. Doohan, B. Egan, J. Davey; T. Taylor, N. McGuire; J. McPartland, M. Breheny, S. Davey; D. McTernan, D. Sloyan (capt.), B. Curran.

Subs: D. McGarty for Taylor (31st minute); G. McGowan for McTernan (second half); K. Sweeney for Sloyan (58th); C. Harrison for Martyn (68th); P. McGowan for Egan (70th).

Referee: M. Hughes (Tyrone). - Tyrone referee Michael Hughes handled the game well.

Att: 7,931.