Dublin put Cork to the sword but plenty of questions remain to be answered

Dublin 1-16
Cork 0-14

Two games to go and Dublin are still humming along, still favourites in many eyes to hoist the old canister come the fourth Sunday in September. Yet nobody who watched the gavel drop on what was ultimately a pretty comfortable five-point win over Cork on Saturday night went away imagining their case to be watertight. Further questions? Plenty m'lud.

Like, what happens when a better-drilled team than Cork make it their life’s work for 70 minutes not to foul anywhere within 60 metres of the goal?

Stephen Cluxton kicked six points from dead balls on Saturday night, three of them from 45s. What happens when a game reverts to type and Dublin are only awarded one or two 45s instead of the unheard-of four that fell their way here? If your goalkeeper is your joint top-scorer, aren't you depending too much on the opposition to bring him into the game?

It may sound like a silly thing to say about a team that has averaged 2-17 a game all summer but Dublin's downfall could yet be their efficiency in front of goal. Bernard Brogan hasn't scored a point from play in two games. Paul Mannion had his first non-performance in a Dublin shirt and was substituted after 54 minutes. Not for the first time, they missed hatful of nailed-on goal chances and only took one. It hasn't cost them yet. Can anyone be confident it won't?

Great character
"What pleased me most was the great character among the group," said Jim Gavin afterwards. "They showed great energy, great steadfastness and a willingness never to give up. They could have got frustrated by some of the goal opportunities that they created without taking but they kept at it."

And they needed to. Cork stayed within range and stubbornly refused to go away and as long as Dublin weren't raising green flags, Their tactics were resolutely old-school and yet they exposed a weakness in the Dublin full-back line under the high ball. The brilliant fetching of Ciarán Sheehan and Brian Hurley caused Rory O'Carroll and Jonny Cooper anxiety and although Cork never created much more than half-chances, they only had to take one to make Dublin sweat.

Top button
As it was, Jack McCaffrey's wonderful finish high into Alan Quirke's top corner on 38 minutes allowed Dublin to open their top button and loosen out their tie. It came shortly after a break during which Cork would have felt reasonably happy that they had been more or less the equal of Dublin in the first half despite being outplayed at times.

Sheehan, Hurley, John O'Rourke and Daniel Goulding had all contributed snappy points from play. Dublin, by contrast, were relying on a huge performance from Cian O'Sullivan in midfield allied to the score-taking of Cluxton and Paul Flynn to stay ahead.

And all the while, Dublin's search for the goal that would have sent Croke Park into overdrive was proving fruitless. Michael Darragh Macauley ended a typically forceful run on 22 minutes with a shot that deflected off Quirke's shoulder. Brogan, who was having a lot of success in beating Eoin Cadogan to the ball but a nightmare evening once he had it, hit the butt of the post with a shot three minutes later.

It all added up to a 0-9 to 0-7 lead for Dublin at half-time. And when Diarmuid Connolly dragged maybe the best goal chance of the lot left and wide two minutes after the restart, the sense of nervousness was palpable. McCaffrey’s goal, curled high into the corner on the run after a clever pop pass from Mannion, settled them somewhat and yet Cork still scored four of the next six points. With 20 minutes left on the clock, Dublin were still only 1-11 to 0-12 ahead.

But for the second game in a row, Gavin was able to turn to his bench to close the game out. Between them, Dublin’s substitutes chipped in with four of their last six points. Dean Rock scored two off the bench for the fourth game in a row and must surely be a candidate for a start in the semi-final. Kevin McManamon and Denis Bastick hoisted one apiece. They are a club no other manager has in his bag.

Goulding and Paudie Kissane both had snap shots for goal but they never got close enough to matter. We won't find out what Dublin are truly made of unless and until a better team does.
DUBLIN: 1 S Cluxton (0-6, 0-3 free, 0-3 45); 2 J Cooper, 3 R O'Carroll, 4 K O'Brien; 5 J McCarthy, 6 G Brennan, 7 J McCaffrey (1-0); 8 MD Macauley (0-1), 9 C O'Sullivan; 10 P Flynn (0-2), 11 C Kilkenny (0-2), 12 D Connolly; 13 P Mannion, 20 B Cullen, 15 B Brogan (0-1, free). Subs: 26 D Rock (0-2) for Cullen (41 mins), 23 P McMahon for Cooper (51 mins), 24 K McManamon (0-1) for Mannion (54); 18 D Bastick (0-1) for Macauley (60); E O'Gara for Kilkenny (65 mins).
CORK: 1 A Quirke; 2 E Cadogan, 3 M Shields, 4 Thomas Clancy; 5 D Cahalane (0-1, 45), 6 G Canty, 7 J Loughrey (0-1); 8 A O'Connor, 9 P O'Neill; 10 M Collins (0-2, 0-1 free), 11 A Walsh, 12 J O'Rourke (0-1); 13 D Goulding (0-5, 0-2 free, 0-1 45), 14 C Sheehan (0-1), 15 B Hurley (0-3). Subs: 21 P Kissane for Cadogan, (ht), 25 P Kerrigan for O'Rourke (43 mins), 20 J O'Sullivan for Clancy (48), 26 D O'Connor for A O'Connor (51 mins), 18 Tomás Clancy for Canty ( 54 mins).
Referee: D Coldrick (Meath).
Attendance: 70,018