A strong first half and two goals was the catalyst for Cork’s win over the Dublin Senior Hurlers in tonight’s Championship Quarter Final
Dublin 0-24
Cork 2-26
Semple Stadium, Thurles
The 2-13 to 0-11 half time scoreline was a mountain that Dublin honorably attempted to climb and failed as Cork powered their way to an All Ireland Hurling Championship semi final date with Kilkenny next week.
The Rebel County managed to keep Dublin at arms length. Dublin did register three on the bounce to cut the defecit to four by the 65th minute, but a Patrick Horgan converted free eased Cork’s nerves. Niall O’Leary, Alan Connolly and Horgan added scores in additional time to save the tie.
Donal Burke again played the tallisman for Dublin, but the outcome seemed inevitable from the early going.
Level three times in the opening quarter, Dublin had two early goal chances. But Patrick Collins was in fine fettle, stopping Ronan Hayes’ shot and a second scare minutes later led to nothing.
At the other end Jack O’Connor carved a path to goal in the 16th only for his shot to hit the side netting. But Tim O’Mahony made no mistake in the 18th, breaching Alan Nolan’s goal after a fine solo run from his own half.
There was only 0-02 seperating the sides at the first half water break, but on the half hour mark Cork had increased their lead to 0-06 with Seamus Harnedy making his presence felt on the left flank.
Dublin’s shootin let them down badly. Chris Crummey was visibly annoyed after hitting three wides in the first half. And as Cork hit their second goal, that proved too costly. Jack O’Connor squared a ball only for Sean Kingston to follow it in and find the net.
For Dublin, it’s the end of their season, with Cork advancing to the last four in the Championship.
Dublin Scorers:
Donal Burke 0-13 (7f, 1 ’65)
Cian O’Sullivan 0-03
Conor Burke 0-02
Danny Sutcliffe 0-02
Liam Rushe 0-01
Cian Boland 0-01
Rian McBride 0-01
Jake Malone 0-01
Cork Scorers:
Patrick Horgan 0-12 (8f, 1 ’65)
Tim O’Mahony 1-01
Sean Kingston 1-00
Seamus Harnedy 0-04
Jack O’Connor 0-03
Robbie O’Flynn 0-02
Conor Cahalane 0-01
Shane Barrett 0-01
Niall O’Leary 0-01
Alan Connolly 0-01
Dublin:
1. Alan Nolan
2. Andrew Dunphy
3. Paddy Smyth
4. Cian O’Callaghan
5. Daire Gray
6. Liam Rushe
7. James Madden
8. Rian McBride
9. Conor Burke
10. Danny Sutcliffe
11. Donal Burke
12. Chris Crummey
13. Cian Boland
14. Ronan Hayes
15. Cian O’Sullivan
Dublin Substitutes:
Jake Malone for O’Callaghan (49)
Davy Keogh for O’Sullivan (52)
Oisin O’Rorke for Boland (63)
Paul Crummey for Hayes (69)
Cork:
1. Patrick Collins
2. Niall O’ Leary
3. Robert Downey
4. Sean O’Donoghue
5. Tim O’Mahony
6. Mark Coleman
7. Ger Millerick
8. Darragh Fitzgibbon
9. Luke Meade
10. Conor Cahalane
11. Seamus Harnedy
12. Robbie O’ Flynn
13. Jack O’ Connor
14. Shane Kingston
15. Patrick Horgan
Cork Substitutes:
Shane Barrett for Kingston (48)
Sean O’Leary-Hayes for O’Donoghue (58)
Alan Connolly for O’Flynn (60)
Billy Hennessy for Meade (63)
Colm Spillane for O’Leary (73)