Dublin 1-19; Cork 1-16
No one will ever accuse you of being a GAA football genius should you declare that Dublin are a totally different team when Con O’Callaghan is - and isn’t playing.
On Saturday, he was absent with a recurrence of the hamstring that he picked up in the Galway match in Salthill - this time the Dubs had just about enough ammo in their arsenal to get past Cork at Croke Park.
From now on, though, the standard they set at the weekend simply won’t be enough. That is why Dessie Farrell’s declaration after this game that Con would be fit for the coming weekend was welcomed with big smiles by Dublin fans who know that the fate of their county is very much improved when the skipper is directing the way to goal in the forward line.
However, let’s recognize in his absence that a number of players stepped up in the scoring stakes with Cormac Costello (5), Sean Bugler (5) and MVP Paddy Small (4) claiming 0-14 among them of the 20 scores Dublin registered against a very up-for-it Rebel outfit.
O'Callaghan was named at No 14 but sat on the subs bench for the entirety of the game much to the disappointment of blue fans in the smallish 36,546 crowd at headquarters.
Dublin started well with four points but once Chris Óg Jones got in for Cork’s first half goal, the Munster men were often the better side. Indeed in the overall scheme of things, it was only when Brian Howard's great run ended in a goal in the 45th minute that the Dubs found their mojo to hang on and ultimately win by three points.
Cork turned over with a deserved 1-8 to 0-9 advantage and Farrell admitted that as the game became delicately balanced in the final quarter, himself and his selection team wondered if they should spring O’Callaghan to get over the line.
Ultimately he said they were happy to have gambled that they could do that without the Cuala man, adding that the extra week’s rest would mean he could definitely line out this coming weekend.
Dublin improved in the second half and had the game tied when Howard scored a goal six minutes into the moiety which gave the team a big confidence boost.
However, Cork were in no mood to lie down and grabbed the next three points per Colm O'Callaghan, Jones and Mark Cronin doing the needful.
The Dub management showed their nerves of steel after the marauding Sean Walsh made it four Cork points in a row to give his side the lead.
So, who had the greater desire? Dublin showed the confidence from their years as serial winners to keep their composure and outscored their opponents by 0-4 to 0-1 in the final 10 minutes, with the ice-cool Costello claiming three of those white flags.
Dublin boss Farrell was a relieved man on Saturday evening following his side's three-point win over Cork at Croke Park.
It was a tough game minus his talisman and skipper O'Callaghan and the manager said: “We were just hoping that we had enough without him. There were conversations with the coaches with a couple of minutes to go but we just decided to hold on.
“But we took the decision not to bring him on. We sort of ran the gauntlet a little bit for the last ten minutes or so. Thankfully, that decision worked out and we gave him an extra seven days to recover and he should be good for the next day.”
The former Na Fianna player added that the game was not a classic Dublin performance and acknowledged a need for a huge improvement going forward.
Dublin: S Cluxton; E Murchan, S MacMahon, D Byrne; B Howard (1-0), J Small (0-1), L Gannon (0-1); P Ó Cofaigh Byrne, C Kilkenny (0-1); K McGinnis, N Scully (0-1), S Bugler (0-5, 1tp); P Small (0-4), L O'Dell, C Costello (0-5, 0-2f) Subs: C Murphy for O'Dell (45), L Breathnach (0-1) for McGinnis (57), T Lahiff for Gannon (59), N Doran for Scully (68).
Cork: M Aodh Martin (0-1 45); D O'Mahony, M Shanley, N Lordan; B O'Driscoll, S Brady, M Taylor; I Maguire (0-1), C O'Callaghan (0-2); P Walsh, S Walsh (0-1), S McDonnell; B Hurley (0-2), M Cronin (0-4, 0-2f), C Óg Jones (1-4) Subs: E McSweeney for Walsh (48), C Cahalane for McDonnell (49-58, blood), C O'Mahony (0-1) for Hurley (55), S Powter for Taylor (58), L Fahy for Lordan (63).
Ref: S Hurson (Tyrone).
GAA results and fixtures
All-Ireland SHC quarter-final
Tipperary 1-28 Galway 2-17
Dublin 2-24 Limerick 0-28
All-Ireland SFC preliminary quarter-final
Galway 2-26 Down 3-21
Dublin 1-19 Cork 1-16,
Kerry 3-20 Cavan 1-17 0-12
Donegal 2-22 Louth
Tailteann Cup semi-final
Limerick 2-18 Wicklow 1-17
Kildare 1-13 Fermanagh 0-9
(Final to be played on July 12)
Saturday 28 June/Sunday 29 June
All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals
Meath v Galway, Croke Park
Armagh v Kerry Croke Park
Monaghan v Donegal, Croke Park
Tyrone v Dublin, Croke Park
