The 16th Man

They came, they saw and very nearly, the gladiator like troops of Dublin conquered the rebels. A game which had been billed as a thriller lived up to its reputation of past years gone by with a game that was end to end from the word go with Bernard Brogans goal after just 90 seconds sending everywhere from Fairview to Donnybrook into pandemonium. This was the start Dublin fans had been dreaming of and the Brogan’s cohorts duly answered the inspirational goal with performances around the middle to leave the Corkonians with an awful lot of food for thought after only 10 minutes had ticked over on the clock.

The talk all week was of Canty and would he or would he not start. The cork team lined out with their inspirational leader but the inspiration they were looking for was draining away fast with the Dubs starting to make life difficult for a team who looked like they only had to turn up to win this.

The booming roar of “REBELS!! REBELS!!” had died and the Jacks finally felt they had arrived, the optimism was rising with every score and the admirable work rate of each and every one of the Dublin players that a result would not have been begrudged by any spectator yesterday.

The half time score of 1-8 to 0-7 in favour of the dubs left the Corkonians in shock and were ready to attach the tag of perennial bridesmaids once again to their heroes but the introduction of the hurler come footballer Eoin Cadogan for Canty turned the table somewhat as the Dubs found it a little bit more difficult but still held the pressure on the rebels through a terrificly worked individual point from Ross McConnell.

At certain stages in games of utmost importance the aptly named term “the melting pot” is tossed about by certain commentators, the moment the game fell asunder into the pot was just as the substitute for Cork, Colm O’Neill, entered the fray.

The Hill became alive, desperate to hold on to achieve their first All-Ireland final for 15 years, but the Dub’s tendency to defend their lead rather than kick on resulted ultimately in their downfall. The possession that found the big Dublin full forward Eoghan O’Gara wasn’t capitalised and the tables were then turned when another massively positive impact was made from the other Cork sub Nicholas Murphy. A long ball kicked in found its way into the hands of O’Neill but the overly enthusiastic defending from Ross McConnell was deemed to be a foul from the erratic referee Maurice Deegan. The Cork fans felt lady luck was shining down on them when the penalty was slotted home coolly by the excellent Donnacha O’Connor, however the Dubs weren’t finished yet; with the terrific Michael Dara McCauley and aided by the untouchable Alan Brogan the Dubs came back at Cork again and stuck over more scores to leave it hanging by a thread going into the last ten minutes. To add insult to injury the dismissal of McConnell late on in the game left the Dubs with an uphill battle.

The Cork player’s experience ultimately told over this Dublin side with the introduction of Derek Kavanagh in the final few putting tremendous pressure on the tough, but ultimately, the lethargic Dublin full back line.
The final whistle left all in blue stunned and thinking what if, the boys in blue were left heartbroken again. But unlike ’08 and’09 there was grounds for optimisim, the youth of this team coupled with new blood leaves a brighter outlook.

For Cork it very nearly wasn’t and probably shouldn’t have been their day, they go on to contest the All-Ireland against either Kildare or Down but will be hoping they can rectify this performance to achieve the aim they always dreamed of, Sam Maguire!

Cork: Alan Quirke; Ray Carey, Michael Shields, John Miskella; Noel O’Leary, Graham Canty, Paudie Kissane; Alan O’Connor, Aidan Walsh (0-1); Paul Kerrigan (0-1), Pearse O’Neill, Patrick Kelly (0-2); Daniel Goulding (0-4), Ciaran Sheehan, Donncha O’Connor (1-5). Subs: Eoin Cadogan, Nicholas Murphy, Colm O’Neill (0-1), Derek Kavanagh (0-1), Fintan Goold.

Dublin: Stephen Cluxton; Michael Fitzsimons, Rory O’Carroll, Philly McMahon (0-1); Kevin Nolan, Ger Brennan, Cian O’Sullivan; Ross McConnell (0-1), Michael Darragh McAuley (0-1); Niall Corkery, Alan Brogan (0-2), Bryan Cullen (0-1); David Henry, Eoghan O’Gara, Bernard Brogan (1-7). Subs: Barry Cahill, Paul Flynn, Eamonn Fennell, Conal Keaney (0-1), Denis Bastick.

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