Rebels keep cool to inflict late Capital punishment

Cork 1-11 Dublin 1-10

In doing so, they gave their Allianz League campaign a badly-needed boost.

Arguably the most impressive feature was the show of character which earned them three quick scores after Dublin had equalised late in the game and ultimately their ability to hold out under mounting pressure.

Naturally, it delighted Cork coach Billy Morgan, all the more so since he was unable to call on any of their U-21 players who had lined out earlier in the day in Killarney.

“We were on our knees when Dublin drew level, but we got a new lease of life,” said Morgan. “If we had lost, we’d be battling relegation. People might think it’s a tall order to win our remaining games, but we don’t.”

With Dublin having last won away to Cork 15 years ago and managing only one victory and a draw from nine meetings since, Dublin coach Paul Caffrey admitted he wasn’t satisfied with the performance.

“The work rate, the effort and the amount of football we played deserved more than a one point defeat,” he stated. “The way it petered out at the end, that’s the learning process for this Dublin team.”

The Cork goal, scored by newcomer Donncha O’Connor in the seventh minute, gave the hosts confidence to force the pace from the start - and a lead they weren’t to surrender until near the end.

However, their return from some excellent approach play was poor, despite the best efforts of Kevin O’Sullivan and Sean O’Brien (in the unusual role of wing-forward). More positively, the grip exerted by the backs limited Dublin severely.

Conor McCarthy operated well back from the half-forward line and made good use of the possession. Ger Spillane was putting in a mighty effort at centre-back, Anthony Lynch’s powerful play at left half-back was highly influential and Dermot Hurley was achieving most at midfield.

On the Dublin side, centre-back Coman Goggins was very effective in the first quarter and the full-back trio were solid. However, none of the forwards really troubled the home defence until Declan Lally revived their challenge with a goal minutes before the break. It left the score 1-6 to 1-3.

Within 13 minutes of the resumption Dublin narrowed the gap to a single score after Bryan Cullen had kicked the first two of three excellent points. Overall they were now more threatening, with Ciaran Whelan helping to strengthen midfield, Cullen revitalised after moving to full-forward and Mossie Quinn troubling Michael Prout for the first time. Noel O’Leary kicked a fine point for Cork before being forced off injured shortly afterwards, but Quinn had Dublin level from play in the 55th minute.

While the Dublin manager felt it wasn’t the type of game where either team was going to get on top, for a while the visitors looked capable of seizing control. The reason they didn’t was due to several factors, not least the scoring of three Cork points in a four-minute period (the middle one a terrific kick from David Niblock). But, vital too was the commanding play of Graham Canty at full-back and Lynch’s equally inspired defending and the Cork side’s battling qualities.

And, they needed to battle strongly after Alan Brogan scored in the 67th minute and Whelan added another in the last minute of normal play. With three additional minutes played Dublin promised an equaliser but they were frustrated in their last attack when a pass from substitute Mark Vaughan was intercepted by Niblock. As Morgan remarked, his team “more than deserved” to triumph for admirable application in difficult conditions.

Scorers: Cork - D. O’Connor 1-0; K. O’Sullivan 0-3 (0-2 frees); J. Masters 0-2 frees; D. Niblock 0-2; S. O’Brien, C. McCarthy, N. O’Leary and G. Murphy 0-1 each. Dublin: D. Lally 1-0; B. Cullen 0-3; D. O’Callaghan 0-2; T. Quinn 0-2 (0-1 free); C. Keaney, A. Brogan and C. Whelan 0-1 each.

CORK: A. Quirke; M. Prout, G. Canty, K. O’Connor (capt.); S. Levis, G. Spillane, A. Lynch; D. Hurley, N. O’Leary; C. McCarthy, D. Niblock, S. O’Brien (capt.); J. Masters, K. O’Sullivan, D. O’Connor.

Subs: D. Mehigan for Levis (injured, 17th minute); G. Murphy for O’Leary (injured, 55); D. Coughlan for Mehigan 62).

DUBLIN: S. Cluxton; P. Griffin, B. Cahill, D. Henry; P. Casey, C. Goggins, P. Andrews; D. Bastic, D. Magee; C. Keaney, B. Cullen (capt.), D. Lally; D. O’Callaghan, S. Ryan, T. Quinn.

Subs: C. Whelan for Magee (34); A. Brogan for Ryan (half time); K. Bonner for Keaney (49); M. Vaughan for O’Callaghan (67).

Referee: P. McEnaney (Monaghan). Pat McEnaney did a decent job but made a number of strange decisions on both sides - denying Cork a penalty in the second half.