Cork breeze past Donegal

Cork 1-27 Donegal 2-10

Cork enjoyed a comfortable 14-point win against Donegal at Croke Park this afternoon as they progressed to the All-Ireland SFC semi-finals.

Conor Counihan's men led from the seventh minute onwards, once defender John Miskella slotted over the first of his four points.

A disappointingly flat Donegal struggled to show the form that got them past Derry and Galway.

Cork, on the other hand, fired on all cylinders and a 43rd-minute goal from Paul Kerrigan put the result beyond any lingering doubt.

Goals from Rory Kavanagh (53rd minute) and Stephen Griffin (68th) were mere consolation as Cork held out for a comprehensive win.

Cork's counter-attacking abilities were sublime as they gave Donegal very little change, crumbling up the bulk of their scoring chances and converting them to scores at the opposite end.

Counihan admitted afterwards that he learnt very little about his side, given Donegal's poor challenge, but the 70 minutes did show Cork's strength in depth with three of their five substitutes joining all of the forwards and two defenders getting on the scoresheet.

Donegal did make an effective start and held two-thirds of the possession in the opening 14 minutes, but they were subsequently overcome as the Rebels took control.

Teenage target man Michael Murphy slotting over the first of his six points for Donegal, in the opening minute.

However, John Joe Doherty's men misfired for the most part in front of the posts, with team captain Rory Kavanagh sending a second-minute effort into the hands of Cork goalkeeper Alan Quirke.

Colm McFadden and Murphy were also guilty of missed chances, as clinical Cork took a 0-3 to 0-1 lead in the 10th minute thanks to a brace of Donnacha O'Connor scores, which arrived either side of a John Miskella point.

Left half-back Miskella was in superb form throughout. Striding forward, the Ballincollig man slotting over his second point as Cork broke three points clear.

The first real goal-scoring opportunity of this contest arrived in the 16th minute, when Daniel Goulding blasted wide of the target.

It came after an excellent attacking move by the Rebels, with Alan O'Connor feeding Kieran O'Connor who laid off the ball to Colm O'Neill, a late inclusion at full-forward instead of James Masters.

O'Neill rounded Donegal full-back Neil McGee before fisting the ball forward to Goulding, whose effort was inches wide.

Kieran O'Connor was also drafted into the starting line-up, in place of the experienced Anthony Lynch who is continuing his recovery from a groin problem.

Cork rampaged forward for points from Graham Canty, Paddy Kelly (0-2) and Paul Kerrigan, ensuring an 0-8 to 0-2 lead by the 24th minute.

Donegal tried too to run hard at the Cork defence, but were lacking the penetration. The Munster champions gained turnovers time and again and capitalised greatly on Donegal's loose marking.

A brace of points from Colm O'Neill and scores from Kerrigan and Pearse O'Neill handed Cork a 10-point lead with two minutes to go before the break.

Murphy grabbed Donegal's first point in 26 minutes with a punched injury-time effort, but Miskella had the final say to make it 0-13 to 0-3 at the interval.

Donegal boss Doherty made changes for the second half. Stephen Griffin came on for veteran forward Brian Roper, while David Walsh replaced Leo McLoone.

Griffin had an impact for Donegal late on, but Cork were out of sight by then having showed their shooting brilliance in front of the posts.

Just one point of Cork's second half tally arrived from a placed ball - that a Donnacha O'Connor free - as they opened up a 0-15 to 0-4 buffer.

Counihan's charges were sharpest in the third quarter at the end of which they held a comfortable 14-point lead.

Cork's lone goal of the contest arrived from Kerrigan.

Paddy Kelly and Kerrigan linked up before the right half-forward slotted the ball past Donegal goalkeeper Michael Boyle.

Donegal skipper Kavanagh led by example as the game entered the final quarter, hitting back with his side's first goal.

An excellent ball forward from Kevin Cassidy was broken down by Murphy who fed Kavanagh who sent a measured finish past Cork stopper Alan Quirke.

This failed to rattle Cork however who scored excellent points from Goulding and substitutes Paudie Kissane and Fintan Goold to lead by 1-25 to 1-8 with eight-and-a-half minutes remaining.

Points from Barry Monaghan and Adrian Hanlon and a 68th-minute goal from Griffin gave Donegal some late consolation.

Cork kept pressing for scores and although they lost Paddy Kelly to a late injury, nothing could stop this from being a red letter day in front of a 49,751-strong headquarters crowd.

CORK: A Quirke; R Carey, M Shields, K O'Connor; N O'Leary, G Canty (0-1), J Miskella (0-4); A O'Connor, N Murphy; P Kerrigan (1-4), P O'Neill (0-2), P Kelly (0-2); D Goulding (0-3), C O'Neill (0-2), D O'Connor (0-4, 0-3f).

Subs used: F Goold (0-2) for A O'Connor (45 mins), F Lynch (0-1) for C O'Neill (50), M Cussen for Murphy (53), P Kissane (0-2) for Miskella (56), J Hayes for Kerrigan (61).

DONEGAL: M Boyle; F McGlynn, N McGee, K Lacey; B Dunnion, B Monaghan (0-1), E McGee (0-1); B Boyle, K Cassidy; R Kavanagh (1-0), B Roper (0-1), L McLoone; C Dunne, M Murphy (0-6, 0-3f), C McFadden.

Subs used: S Griffin (1-0) for Roper, D Walsh for McLoone (both half-time), D Gallagher for B Boyle (48 mins), A Hanlon (0-1) for Dunne (50), E Wade for E McGee (56).

Referee: Maurice Deegan (Laois).