Cork crank up conveyor belt

GEORGE BERNARD SHAW once wrote: “People are always blaming circumstances for being what they are.

The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want and if they can’t find them, make them.”

If any player on the pitch in Portlaoise yesterday created the circumstances for a Cork victory it was the Tadhg MacCárthaigh club man and undisputed man-of-the-match, Colm O’Driscoll. From his thundering shoulder to break up a Down attack in the 12th minute to the endless hoovering of breaking balls from the first to the 61st minute right on through to his Roy of the Rovers goal that broke Down hearts at the death, the dynamic O’Driscoll was an irresistible force of nature. He was the last man tracking back for Down captain Timmy Hanna’s goal with just six minutes left on the clock and less than a minute before his own match-winning goal, O’Driscoll was a fingertip away from getting on the end of another desperate Cork attempt to break through the Down back-line.