Cork out to stall Dublin three-in-a-row bid

As they started, so shall they finish.

Dublin and Cork opened their league campaigns at Pairc Ui Rinn and will finish it on the same bill at HQ in a fortnight’s time with the Rebels aiming to stall the Leinster side’s bid to follow their own three-in-a-row of titles with a hat-trick of their own.

That all makes for a pleasing sense of symmetry, but it remains to be seen what type of encounter can be expected between the two teams that have undoubtedly shone brighter than most this past couple of months.

“We had a cracking game with them in Pairc Ui Rinn in our first National League game,” said Dublin manager Jim Gavin.

“We gave lots of players opportunities in that game, but Cork were very impressive and I hear they scored 4-10 against Donegal, which is a mighty score against a team like that.

“They are probably a bit more defensive in their system this year as well, but any game between Cork and Dublin the last few years has been really high-octane and very entertaining. Both teams will really have a crack at it and be thankful we have an extra game in this part of the season.”

Dublin maybe more so.

The Leinster heavyweights were superb a week earlier in dispatching Monaghan in front of 10,000 fans in Clones, but will hope to do better next time having stuttered past the same opposition in front of a crowd twice that size at HQ.

That they still had enough to overcome one of the country’s top sides could well be taken as reason to be fearful rather than cheerful by the rest of the country, but Gavin was clearly unhappy with many aspects of his side’s display.

And in particular?

“Our core skills, which we apply ourselves to in our practice sessions. Our hand-passing. Our tackling was a bit sloppy as well. They’re the basics of our game and they sort of let us down. Once that didn’t go right for us, we turned the ball over a lot and gave Monaghan a chance to penetrate against us.”

That said, Gavin accepted Dublin have more options in terms of personnel than was the case this time 12 months ago. The emergence of men such as defender John Small and forward Brian Fenton has seen to that.

Another gilded variable has been added to the pot this past week with the return to the squad of Alan Brogan who played for his club Oliver Plunketts Eoghan Ruadh on Saturday evening and may be an option for the league decider.

The former Footballer of the Year may even step up his reintegration into the county scene sooner than that, next Sunday in fact, when Dublin face Galway in a challenge match in Skerries.