Galway overwhelm 14-man Cork to book All-Ireland final spot

The Leinster champions ran riot against the Rebels, who had captain Darragh Fitzgibbon dismissed.

DANGER MAN: Galway’s Jason Rabbitte and Damien Cahalane of Cork. Pic: INPHO/James Crombie

GALWAY 2-26 CORK 1-18 

That familiar sinking feeling pervaded the Cork team for the second Croke Park visit in succession as Galway dismissed their underdogs status in style.

A goldrush of nine unanswered points in 12 minutes sent Galway into a six-point lead by the 47th minute. Cork malfunctioned just as they on their previous appearance against Tipperary last July.

Darragh Fitzgibbon’s 56th minute red card for a head-high foul put the tin hat on a forgettable trip to the capital when Galway’s vibrancy, especially on Cork’s second-half puck-outs, and their accuracy was all too much for Cork to take.

Alan Connolly losing a ball in possession in the 47th minute and Shane Barrett frustratingly lashing out for a squandered ball and being booked for it were symptomatic of a brutal day for the Munster runners-up.

Barrett and Hayes toiled in vain to find the net but the only goal that came was substitute Conor Cooney’s to crown a splendid Galway victory.

But make no mistake this was another collapse by Cork.

Were there signs that something like this would repeat itself? Like in the Munster final when Cork didn’t score from play after Hayes’ goal three minutes into the second half?

Galway struck 14 wides to Cork's six and that as much as the scoreline emphasised their superiority. Tom Monaghan was wonderful again, Jason Rabbitte was a menace from the outset and their half-back line was dominant after half-time.

The narrative we all bought during the week was that Galway had to keep it tight in the opening quarter. That they did, sending back all but Rabbitte into their own half on occasions, but they were also picking off scores.

Four minutes in and they had three notched. Barrett and Hayes retorted with their own points, Hayes giving a sign of things to come when he put on the brakes for a ball to the side and lost marker Daithí Burke.

No sooner was it being noted that Galway had the ball out and Conor Whelan was feeding Darragh Neary for his second first-half goal in the seventh minute.

Cork neutralised it with the following three points, Hayes again beating Burke for one, Fitzgibbon looping over another and Connolly penalising a foul on Barrett.

Whelan keep the ticker counting for Galway but Cork had grabbed the ascendancy and after a Burke foul on Hayes was punished by Connolly, the Blackrock man sent over a compensation point after Diarmuid Healy’s 17th minute shot had been kept out.

Ronan Glennon and Tiernan Killeen fired over long-range points either side of a Connolly free for a foul on Alan Walsh but Cork amassed the next five scores, 1-4.

Hayes was virtually unmarkable and struck his third, fourth and fifth points. The third came before Walsh’s 24th minute goal, catching an Eoin Downey sideline and executing the shot with conviction.

Fitzgibbon’s second point on the half-hour mark widened the margin to five but Galway responded with five of the last six points in the half. Damien Cahalane and Seán O’Donoghue were also booked for fouls on Rabbitte and the resultant frees were converted by Aaron Niland.

From play, Rabbitte, Darren Morrissey and Monaghan were on the money and there was a solitary point between the counties. It was a taste of things to come.

Scorers for Cork: B. Hayes (0-7); A. Connolly (0-4, 3 frees); A. Walsh (1-0); S. Barrett (0-3, 1 free) D. Fitzgibbon (0-2); W. Buckley, B. Walsh (free) (0-1 each).

Scorers for Galway: T. Monaghan (0-4); C. Cooney (1-1); A. Niland (frees), J. Rabbitte, R. Glennon, C. Mannion (1 free), C. Whelan (0-3 each); D. Neary (1-0); G. Lee (0-2); T. Killeen, D. Morrissey, P. Mannion, J. Fleming (0-1 each).

GALWAY: D. Fahy; D. Burke, C. Trayers, J. Ryan; P. Mannion, D. Morrissey (c), R. Glennon; T. Killeen, G. Lee; D. Neary, C. Mannion, T. Monaghan; C. Whelan, J. Rabbitte, A. Niland.

Subs for Galway: C. Daniels for P. Mannion (temp, 15-16); C. Cooney for A. Niland (47); C. Daniels for J. Ryan (56); J. Fleming for T. Killeen (62); B. Concannon for G. Lee (66).

CORK: P. Collins; N. O’Leary, D. Cahalane, S. O’Donoghue; E. Downey, R. Downey, M. Coleman; T. O’Mahony, T. O’Connell; D. Fitzgibbon (c)¸ S. Barrett, D. Healy; A. Connolly, A. Walsh, B. Hayes.

Subs for Cork: C. O’Brien for D. Cahalane (h-t); R. O’Flynn for T. O’Connell (48); W. Buckley for A. Connolly (51); B. Walsh for A. Walsh (52); G. Millerick for E. Downey (inj, 61).

Red card: D. Fitzgibbon (second yellow, 56).

Referee: J. Murphy (Limerick).