Cork punished in 25 minutes of agony

Dublin 2-14 Cork 2-10: Cork’s 2016 All-Ireland football opener sits another 14 weeks away, but their ‘championship’ season kicks in here and now as they scramble to avoid the drop into Division Two.

Forget the bigger issues for now, avoiding that prospect is the most immediate concern after Saturday night’s defeat to Dublin. Though it helped restore a modicum of pride after the awfulness of the defeat six days earlier to Roscommon, it is a result that leaves the Rebels with just two points from four games.

Monaghan in Pairc Ui Rinn next Sunday marks the first of that crucial trio of fixtures and Peadar Healy will have to hope his predictably unpredictable squad can build on the positives banked in the capital after a long week spent navel gazing.