Alan Cadogan excelled for Cork.
All Ireland Hurling Qualifier Round 1
**Cork 1-26 Dublin 1-23 **
By Denis Hurley at Pairc Ui Rinn
It was a close-run thing for long periods at Páirc Uí Rinn on Saturday evening, but Cork just about had the stronger finish to see off the challenge of Dublin to advance to the second round of the All-Ireland SHC qualifiers.
With four minutes of normal time left, the visitors – reduced to 14 men since Chris Crummey’s red card before half-time – were level at 1-22 each as David Treacy’s free, his eighth point, meant that they had scored four in a row.
When the subsequent puckout saw possession wasted by Cork, Dublin’s Eamon Dillon had the chance of a lead point, but his effort was wide and the Rebels made the most of the let-off.
Bill Cooper and Conor Lehane put them two ahead again and, while Treacy reduced the gap with a free, Dublin’s subsequent attack saw Daire Plunkett hooked by Aidan Walsh.
Lorcán McLoughlin gathered possession and his ball down to Alan Cadogan in the left corner and he sent over a lovely point to give him a total of 1-5. At the death, Patrick Horgan won a loose ball and he fired over his 12th point, ensuring that Kieran Kingston’s side will be in the draw for round two on Monday morning.
They were made to work for this and, while they were helped by the numerical advantage for the majority of the game, the performance was at least a couple of notches higher than that in the Munster quarter-final loss to Tipperary.
Cadogan’s 25th-minute goal was the first half’s key score, as he did well to win the delivery from the hard-working Luke O’Farrell and held off Eoghan O’Donnell before sending the ball past Gary Maguire. That put Cork 1-6 to 0-7 in front after Dublin had battled well in the early stages despite Treacy and then Paul Ryan suffering travails from placed balls.
Even allowing for Crummey’s dismissal, Dublin managed to match Cork point for point for the remainder of the opening period, Treacy with the final point, a curling free, to leave it 1-10 to 0-11.
The Cork team before the game.
Cork introduced Conor O’Sullivan at the break to take over the spare-man duties and he was to have a positive impact while Cadogan remained his bright and sparky self, doing great work with the limited possession afforded him.
When Conor Lehane pointed for Cork on 44, with a goal attempt turned over by Maguire, it put the hosts 1-15 to 0-14 in front, but they still couldn’t fully shake off their opponents. Nash, who had earlier saved well from Mark Schutte, was again alert as he denied Chris Bennett – scorer of four points – but Treacy put over the resultant 65 and then a free to cut the gap to two.
In contrast, Cork were wasteful at the other end and they were caught as Bennett drove the defence before offloading to Dillon, who produced a low finish to the net.
Trailing with 18 minutes left, Cork had to respond and they did, through sub Daniel Kearney and Cadogan. When Kearney got his second in the 60th minute, hot on the heels of a score by fellow sub Brian Lawton, it was 1-22 to 1-18 and they looked set to push on.
Ger Cunningham’s side ensured that it wasn’t a procession for his native county, but it was still to be Cork’s night.
Scorers for Cork: P Horgan 0-12 (8fs), A Cadogan 1-5, C Lehane 0-3, D Kearney 0-2, W Egan, B Cooper, L O’Farrell, B Lawton 0-1 each.
Scorers for Dublin: D Treacy 0-9 (7fs, 1 65), C Bennett, P Ryan (0-4f) 0-4 each, E Dillon 1-0, S Barrett, N McMorrow 0-2 each, J McCaffrey, C Crummey 0-1 each.
Cork: A Nash; M Ellis, D Cahalane, K Burke; A Walsh, C Joyce, C Murphy; W Egan, B Cooper; L O’Farrell, S Harnedy, J Cronin (Lisgoold); A Cadogan, P Horgan, C Lehane.
Subs: C O’Sullivan for Murphy (half-time), D Kearney for Cronin (46), B Lawton for Egan (49), S Kingston for Harnedy (67).
Dublin: G Maguire; E O’Donnell, C O’Callaghan, J Madden; C Crummey, L Rushe, S Barrett; J McCaffrey, N McMorrow; D Treacy, R O’Dwyer, E Dillon; P Ryan, C Bennett, M Schutte.
Subs: N Corcoran for Madden (half-time), S Treacy for Ryan (44), D O’Connell for McCaffrey (46), F McGibb for Schutte (62), D Plunkett for Bennett (67).
Referee: P O’Dwyer (Carlow).
