All-Ireland SFC Quarter-final/Cork 1-11 Donegal 1-10: When the dust had settled on a muggy and epoch-defining day in Croke Park, Billy Morgan admitted he had a premonition. With the Cork team bus rumbling in the background, waiting to whisk the happy Rebels down to Heuston Station for a train south, the godfather of Cork football remembered that, after beating Kerry in the Munster final replay, he had a funny feeling he would be seeing the pale gold and green hoops again.
And for those watching this fretful All-Ireland quarter-final, it appeared as if Cork were somehow destined to come up against their storied arch rivals. They could not manufacture anything like the ferocious passion and drive that enabled them to pip Kerry in that provincial showdown, but against a faltering and inhibited Donegal team, this young Cork team at least mirrored Morgan's fearlessness and grace under pressure.
This match suffered by direct comparison to the thrilling and truly heavyweight encounter between Armagh and Kerry in the curtain-raiser. Every second of that encounter was weighted with significance and Croke Park seemed drained of energy (not to mention supporters) by the time Cork and Donegal trundled out for a historic first championship meeting.
Given the depth and savage hunger of Kerry's performance, it was quickly decided that the winners of this match would be in for a dubious reward. Kerry would beat Donegal, went the general wisdom. But they would absolutely murder Cork. Such knee-jerk conviction runs in direct conflict with the fact form has varied dramatically from match to match in this championship. It is unfortunate for Morgan that his Cork boys have to meet their great rivals in the All-Ireland semi-final for the second consecutive year. In fact, it is a flaw in the championship structure.
Having engineered a great coup in the Munster final, it will be harder again to come up with a fresh blueprint to counteract a Kerry team that have been suddenly anointed as unbeatable again. This is not the most gifted Cork team Morgan has ever managed but they are young and organised and they are undeniably brave.
Courage won this match for them. On a cloying and terribly warm afternoon they had the poise and nerve to work out the winning point as the contest went deep into injury time. That Nicholas Murphy was the prime source was apt as the big Carrigaline man led by example all afternoon. Posting himself deep in the Donegal square, he rose above the posse of Donegal defenders to claim the hanging ball sent in by Conor McCarthy.
Instantly he found Ger Spillane with a smart handpass and the centre-half back, standing in front of the Canal End posts, clipped the winning point. The set-piece was identical to Cork's opening point of the second half, the beginning of a four-point streak which gave them the lead for the first time in the match, 1-7 to 1-6.
Although James Masters, a virtual scoring machine all through this championship, was brilliantly shadowed by Karl Lacey, Cork had the patience and composure to work scores from other sources.
All three wing forwards contributed big points while the impressive centrefield pairing of Murphy and Pearse O'Neill also got forward to add a point each.
They rode Donegal's sporadic bursts of impressive football and their conviction grew as the match went on, with Anthony Lynch full of bright, purposeful running and Murphy dominant. While Derek Kavanagh did fine at full back, the loss of Graham Canty as a defensive anchor was plain to see.
Cork tried both Michael Prout and Kieran O'Connor on Leon Thompson, the Glenties man thrust into the heart of things by Donegal manager Brian McIver over the last 10 days. As against Fermanagh, Thompson won almost every ball kicked his way. But he was a little rushed in his execution and, with a bit more experience, might have finished the afternoon with a glowing personal statistics sheet.
For a period in the first half, Donegal had Cork on the rack but fired six good chances wide. After the break, they had nothing like the same possession and found it increasingly difficult to work scores, suffering blank periods between the 35th and 43rd, and 47th to 57th minutes and landing only a single point in the last 23 minutes.
Blistering against Down in early June, the Donegal attack has been slowly disintegrating ever since. Although young Michael Doherty played yesterday, it was obvious he has not fully recovered from the awful hit he took against Derry seven weeks ago. Rory Kavanagh opened this match with a beautiful early point but found the going difficult. Michael Hegarty's form has suddenly dipped and the talented Christy Toye has been playing lately as though burdened by a great weight.
Adrian Sweeney was brought in with five minutes to go but it was asking a lot of the loyal Dungloe man to nail a vital free with the score poised at 1-10 each and the last seconds ticking down. As Donegal searched in vain for a scorer, the thought must have occurred to many that it was the kind of match tailor-made for Brendan Devenney.
Still, it was a fine year's work for McIver. He has built a really strong defensive unit. Lacey has established himself as one of the best corner backs in the game, Barry Dunnion has been a revelation and Barry Monaghan is probably the most under-rated player on the team. Monaghan delivered again yesterday, nailing a point from nothing when Donegal desperately needed it.
With the McGee brothers game for anything, the foundation of the Donegal game is rock-solid. But they need to develop the streak of necessary meanness and arrogance if they are to develop into a serious team over the next couple of years.
A formidable challenge awaits Morgan and Cork. Beating Kerry twice in a single summer would represent the Nemo man's finest hour. It is a lot to ask. But you can be certain Morgan will be asking.
CORK: A Quirke; M Prout, D Kavanagh, K O'Connor; M Shields, G Spillane (0-2), A Lynch; P O'Neill (0-1), N Murphy (0-1); S O'Brien (0-1), F Gul (0-1), K McMahon(0-1); J Masters (0-4, two frees), S O'Connor, J Hayes (1-0, penalty). Subs: G Murphy for M Prout (half-time), C McCarthy for F Gul (50 mins), K O'Sullivan for J Hayes (55 mins), D Goulding for K McMahon (69 mins).
DONEGAL: P Durcan; K Lacey, E McGee, N McGee; T Donoghue, B Monaghan (0-1), B Dunnion (0-1); N Gallagher, B Boyle; C Toye (1-0), M Hegarty, C Bonner (0-1); R Kavanagh (0-1), M Doherty (0-3, one 45, two frees), L Thompson (0-2). Subs: C Kelly (0-1) for Hegarty (42 mins), S McHugh for Kavanagh (54 mins), S McDermott for Boyle (60 mins), A Sweeney for L Thompson (65 mins).
Referee: T Quigley (Dublin).
