Too close for comfort
Not for the first time, the Killeagh forward displayed coolness in front of goal to get the vital score.
Dublin were two points behind when a Niall McCarthy effort dropped short in the 44th minute. Dublin keeper Gary Maguire gathered but Deane picked off his handpass across the 21-metre line and kept his nerve to goal from a tight angle.
“The ball was passed across the square, and with Joe Deane around that’s always a dangerous thing to do,” said Cork boss Gerald McCarthy later. “The game turned on that score, really, plus the chance they had when Donal Óg (Cusack) kept the ball out with a beautiful reflex save. The game turned there and from our point of view that’s too close for comfort.”
Two minutes later the impressive Ross O’Carroll got a rare sight of the Cork goal and let fly, but Cusack saved superbly, and the initiative stayed with the home side after that. It was never comfortable, and Cork didn’t impress.
“Absolutely not,” admitted McCarthy. “We know that, and the lads will have to up the performance, but having said that, our training has been geared towards making the latter stages, so maybe some lads were a bit weary from the extra training.
“That’s not taking anything from Dublin, they did well, but we need to improve.”
Dublin impressed in a game that was slow to ignite. In a low-scoring first half they clogged up the middle of the field to stymie Jerry O’Connor and Tom Kenny, but dragging Diarmuid O’Sullivan outfield to create space inside backfired; the Cloyne man hit plenty of ball and impressed all through.
Cork’s shooting was poor, however, and though they ended the half with 10 points, they had the same number of wides. Dublin had kept in touch thanks to a strong display by their half-back line, with Ronan Fallon and Stephen Hiney offering strong resistance, but they lacked scoring power. David O’Callaghan threatened at times and Ross O’Carroll tried, but a goal looked unlikely.
When Deane scored his goal after the break, it knocked Dublin back, as their manager Tommy Naughton admitted later.
“Those things happen in matches, and we’ve got to stop doing those things. It was a mistake but we’ve got to stop making those mistakes. We lost a few other vital balls out here towards the end, we didn’t complete passes and so on.
“It was disappointing. We didn’t get the hiding that a lot of people might have expected us to get. It might have been different if we’d taken our chances.”
Cork’s shooting still yielded seven second-half wides but Dublin needed a goal to try and snatch a result, and though substitute Paul Ryan knocked over two late points to make it interesting for the 12,616 spectators, Cork kept a crowd of defenders in front of their goal and a green flag never looked likely. Patrick Horgan’s late, late score made the five-point cushion look a lot more comfortable than it was for supporters in red, not to mention the Cork management.
“We’re very happy to have got the result,” said McCarthy. “It was a laboured performance, not a good team performance. Dublin worked hard to contain our running game and frustrated us in doing that.
“It was a big game for them and they had a good cut off it. They played a negative enough game, I thought, but it worked for them in terms of stopping our lads.”
His Dublin counterpart was understandably downcast. “We’re still lacking drive,” said Naughton. “We’re going to have to go through more pain. Cork kept their heads when it was vital to keep their heads, and they completed their tasks when they had to complete their tasks, and some of our lads.”
McCarthy had some good news on the injury front: “Ronan Curran’s match fitness is the thing, really, he’s only played a game and a half for us up to today, so we’ll assess him. Seán Óg (Ó hAilpín) has a good chance of making it back for next week – we’ll wait and see what the physios think.” Scorers for Cork: J. Deane 1-1, C. Naughton 0-3, N. Ronan (1f), B. O’Connor (1f), T. Kenny and J. O’Connor 0-2 each, N. McCarthy, P. Cronin, E. Cadogan, J. Gardiner (f), P. Horgan 0-1 each.
Scorers for Dublin: D. O’Callaghan 0-10 (7fs), R. O’Carroll 0-3, P. Ryan 0-2.
D. Og Cusack, S. O’Neill, D. O’Sullivan, B. Murphy, E. Cadogan, J. Gardiner ( c), K. McGann, J. O’Connor, T. Kenny, T. McCarthy, N. McCarthy, B. O’Connor, C. Naughton, N. Ronan, J. Deane.
Subs: R. Curran for O’Sullivan (blood 42-52), P. Cronin for T. McCarthy, K. Hartnett for Cadogan (both 51), Curran for McGann (59); P. Horgan for B. O’Connor (63).
G. Maguire, N. Corcoran, K. Ryan, T. Brady, S. Hiney, R. Fallon, J. Boland, J. McCaffrey, S. Lambert, J. Burke, D. O’Dwyer, D. Qualter, D. O’Callaghan, K. Flynn, R. O’Carroll.
Subs: J. Kelly for O’Carroll (blood 27-30), Kelly for O’Dwyer (39), P. O’Dricsoll for Flynn (44), P. Ryan for Burke and P. Bergin for K. Ryan (both 49); P. Kelly for McCaffrey (62).
J. Owens (Wexford).
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