Derry advance to semi-final after slow-motion victory at Cork’s expense

All-Ireland SFC quarter-final: Derry 1-12 Cork 1-8

Silent films have played out with more life and ambiance, a tiresome early afternoon in Croke Park hardly awakened by the passage of Derry to another All-Ireland semi-final, where they will face All-Ireland champions Kerry.

The back-to-back Ulster champions won’t mind that at all, happily playing to the muted atmosphere in a game they never looked like losing. The highlights reel will last all of 60 seconds, saved by a brief passage of exciting football which broke out in the form of a minor goal fest in the 48th minute.

Cork, not for the first time in grave danger of drifting out of the game, were first to strike, Matty Taylor passing deftly to Conor Corbett in tight space, who then found full back Rory Maguire in full flight, who palmed into the Derry net.

That got Cork back within a point, 0-9 to 1-5, for around 30 seconds, Derry striking right back in the next passage of play — defender Conor Doherty firing in from close range, after a sweet dummy on Ruairí Deane.

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Afterwards, Derry manager Ciarán Meenagh spoke about how that closed out the deal and he was right.

“We knew how dangerous Cork are, when they hit momentum, and how good they are on opposition kick-outs, the heavy zonal press,” he said. “When they turn you over, and get their tails up, they’re a breed of people that are innately very confident, and that’s a dangerous thing.

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“So we talked about when they did get the turnovers. And the big scores, it wasn’t about what happened, it was about how we reacted. And there you are, straight from their goal, the players dusted themselves down, went up the other end of the field, and stuck the ball into the net.

“From that point on I felt we were well on the road, because that was worth more than three points to us, it was a huge sucker punch for Cork as well.”

From there Derry looked to press gently on; still, Cork got it back to within three again on the hour, a second point from Colm O’Callaghan restoring some hope.

Again, not for long, two points from play from Brendan Rogers giving Derry breathing space. It could have ended worse for Cork, Shane McGuigan deliberately brought down by Matty Taylor in the 71st minute. McGuigan stepped up for the penalty, aiming low and left, his shot well stopped by Micheal Aodh Martin in the Cork goal.

Otherwise, the game was at times so tiresome and tedious to watch that Con Houlihan would have thrown down his pencil. It wasn’t entirely through lack of effort: Cork made 33 attacking runs, resulting in 22 shots, but they finished with nine scores. Manager John Cleary didn’t hide his disappointment with that.

“We said that at half-time, and it didn’t improve anything in the second half,” he said. “Our conversion rate was 27-28 per cent and they were 60 per cent and they were more efficient. We kind of snapped at things … Looking back on it, we had a couple of chances that we didn’t put over and that would have put doubts in their minds as well. It wasn’t the turning point of the game, but we had two chances after half-time when we were still a point down and we ultimately didn’t take them.”

Derry were impressively tight in defence, Gareth McKinless showing the way, Chrissy McKaigue ensuring Steven Sherlock didn’t score from play. Rogers also cancelled out Ian Maguire, as did Paul Cassidy on Taylor.

“I think there is some commentary out there that Derry aren’t among the elite teams, and that’s fair,” added Meenagh. “But it’s our job now to get ourselves back, and do ourselves slightly more justice than we did in last year’s semi-final.”

Dumped out of the Munster championship by Clare, any sense that Cork could still salvage something big from their season evaporated once Derry hit back with their goal.

It opened with Cork holding possession for three minutes exactly, passing repeatedly through the lines before eventually finding Sherlock in a scoring position: he chipped his shot wide. Instead, Cork’s first score came from a counterattack, midfielder Colm O’Callaghan doing the business.

Derry got their first score on 10 minutes, a free from McGuigan, who added a second three minutes later. Content to play the slow game too, Derry were just about creating more scoring chances, Cassidy using his speed and skill to fire over two in quick succession.

Doherty’s second put Derry up 0-6 to 0-2, and Cork looked in trouble, even with their scoring chances. Still, they got themselves right back into the game by half-time, Deane’s point, another 45 for Sherlock, then Kevin O’Donovan’s neat point close to the goal bringing it back to a one-point game.

Before exiting, Meenagh spoke of the challenge of taking over mid-season from Rory Gallagher, who stepped away: “It’s been a rollercoaster seven weeks. The events of the week leading into the Ulster final were exceptionally challenging. But, look it, I pride myself on taking things in my stride. I hate drama and I hate fuss. I just like getting on with things and that’s the way the players wanted it.”

Derry: O Lynch; C McKaigue, E McEvoy, C McCluskey; C Doherty (1-0), G McKinless, P McGrogan; C Glass, B Rogers (0-2); N Toner, Paul Cassidy (0-2), E Doherty (0-2); C McFaul (0-1), S McGuigan (0-4, all frees), N O’Loughlin (0-1). Subs: B Heron for Toner (46 mins), L Murray for Loughlin (55 mins), Padraig Cassidy for McFaul (59 mins), S Downey for McEvoy (66 mins), P McNeil for E Doherty (73 mins).

Cork: M Martin; M Shanley, R Maguire (1-0), T Walsh; K O’Donovan (0-1), D O’Mahony, M Taylor; C O’Callaghan (0-2), I Maguire; B O’Driscoll, R Deane (0-1), K O’Hanlon; S Powter, S Sherlock (0-2, both 45s), C Corbett. Subs: E McSweeney (0-1) for O’Hanlon (39 mins), C Og Jones (0-1) for Powter (50 mins), B Hurley for Sherlock (55 mins), J O’Rourke for O’Driscoll (58 mins), D Cashman for Deane (67 mins).

Referee: Joe McQuillan (Cavan).