Uncomfortable stay in Cork for Dubs but Dessie Farrell satisfied with victory
Dublin manager Dessie Farrell with Cork coach John Cleary. Picture: INPHO/Evan Treacy
Dublin’s Division 2 stay has been one lumpy hotel bed after another.
The booking website said Dessie Farrell’s side would be able to kick back and relax during their spring retreat away from the hustle and bustle of the bright Division 1 lights, that they would be able to enjoy the slower pace of life and football that the second tier has to offer.
But as is so often the case, the reviews bear no likeness to reality. Dessie Farrell’s men are being made to earn their buffet breakfast.
The county’s Division 2 break took them to Páirc Uí Chaoimh yesterday for the first time in 10 years. About the only enjoyable element of their weekend on Leeside was the long shrill of Seamus Mulhare’s final whistle.
Yes, Farrell’s men remain unbeaten and yes they remain in pole position for swift promotion back to the top tier, but no more than their one-point win over Kildare in the opening round, this was a two points banked that they’ll feel this morning.
The two points appeared locked away on the team bus when Jack McCaffrey, making his first appearance in blue since February of 2020, kicked a 74th minute point to double his team’s lead.
It forced Cork to go and chase a green flag. And what chase they gave. What a hectic and highly enjoyable finish it spawned.
On 77 minutes, full-back Daniel O’Mahony of all people saw his goal shot blocked by Tom Lahiff.
Cork came again. Brian Hurley, whose one blemish on an otherwise 9/10 afternoon was to miss a run of the mill equalising opportunity on 68 minutes, thundered in a goal bound shot that ‘keeper David O’Hanlon touched onto the post.
Dublin breathed one long sigh of relief when Mulhare called time, Cork applauded off the field by the majority home support in the 10,232 crowd.
Referee Mulhare was a leading actor in the third quarter. Three minutes after the restart, he showed Ian Maguire a second yellow for the slightest of jersey tugs on Dean Rock. It wasn’t even forcible enough to cause Rock to break stride. Maguire was dumbfounded. We all were.
The resultant Rock free was the first of a Dublin second half four-in-a-row to shove the visitors 0-14 to 1-6 ahead. Add in their three before the break and they’d now gone for seven unanswered to move from two behind to five in front.
Farrell whipped off Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne shortly after the midfielder was yellow carded for fear he would walk the same road as the vanquished Maguire. But the Dublin manager was powerless to save Lee Gannon on 47 minutes.
The already booked half-back shouldered into Seán Powter after releasing possession, a most innocuous incident that was relayed to the referee by his linesman.
Their numerical disadvantage erased, Cork roared back into proceedings. Mattier Taylor’s left-footed screamer on 54 minutes levelled matters. His goal crowned an afternoon’s work where he completely snuffed out Ciarán Kilkenny.
The hosts, rather crucially, were unable to regain the lead and never again stood level with their opponents beyond the 56th minute. Experienced soldiers Brian Fenton, James McCarthy, and the returning McCaffrey edged and kept Dublin ahead.
Cork were left to regret their misses, which included a smothered Chris Óg Jones goal shot and a Maurice Shanley green flag disallowed for square ball on 29 minutes.
But where Dublin were far the more economical in a first half they finished 0-10 to 1-6 in front, despite playing into the wind and despite not scoring from play until the 17th minute, an element of carelessness crept into their play late on. They shouldn’t have needed the width of the post to rescue them.
Colm Basquel fell when he should have been pulling the trigger for goal. The same player had a desperate bad wide in between Cork’s pair of injury-time goal chances.
McCaffrey may be back, but the potency of old is still missing.
“It's a very competitive division,” said Farrell. “There's Cork, two defeats now and Cork are a very decent side. They'll be disappointed to find themselves in that situation. Cork probably missed a lot more chances than they would have wanted. We could have ended up on the receiving side.”
Cork’s counter-attacking, as was seen in the build up to Eoghan McSweeney's first half goal, and their long kickpasses from midfield to the inside operators was most impressive. The display in Newbridge was backed up here. But it is two points, more so than another performance, that is required at home to Limerick this Sunday.
“What we were trying to drill into the lads since we started was consistency, putting layer on layer every day we go out, no matter what the opposition that we still play the same way. We know we’re not there yet but look, it’s another small step,” concluded Cleary.
D Rock (0-6, 0-4 frees); C O’Callaghan (0-4, 0-1 mark); D Newcombe (0-2); C Murphy, B Fenton, R McGarry, C Costello, J McCarthy, J McCaffrey (0-1 each).
B Hurley (0-8, 0-3 frees, 0-1 mark); E McSweeney (1-1); M Taylor (1-0); S Sherlock (0-1 free).
: D O’Hanlon; D Newcombe, M Fitzsimons, C Murphy; J Small, L Gannon, T Lahiff; B Fenton, P Ó Cofaigh Byrne; C Kilkenny, R McGarry, N Scully; C Costello, D Rock, C O’Callaghan.
Subs: J McCarthy for Ó Cofaigh Byrne (43); D Byrne for Scully, C Basquel for McGarry (55); J McCaffrey for Murphy (58); L O’Dell for Costello (69).
: MA Martin; M Shanley, D O’Mahony, T Walsh; L Fahy, R Maguire, M Taylor; C O’Callaghan, I Maguire; E McSweeney, S Powter, B O’Driscoll; B Hurley, C Óg Jones, S Sherlock.
Subs: R Deane for Sherlock (43); C Corbett for Jones (55); J O’Rourke for McSweeney (62); K O’Hanlon for Powter (63); F Herlihy for O’Driscoll (72) Referee: S Mulhare (Laois).
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