Cork hold out to stay on roll

Cork 1-19 Galway 1-17:CORK WITHSTOOD a strong Galway second-half revival to preserve their 100 per cent record at Páirc Uí Rinn on Saturday night.

The heavily-sanded surface made little impact on the home side, who raced into a 1-12 to 0-6 lead within two minutes of the resumption.

But, any hopes of a landslide were dispelled by Galway as they outscored their hosts 1-11 to 0-7 in the remainder of the contest.

The twin threat of Nicky Joyce and Michael Meehan kept the visitors in the hunt as they gradually cut Cork’s advantage before substitute Gary Sice plundered their only goal after 59 minutes.

Indeed, the westerners might have salvaged an unlikely draw in injury-time, when substitute Danny Cummins blazed a shot over the crossbar from a favourable position with his side requiring a goal to level matters.

Cork, who played out the closing minutes with 14 men following substitute John Hayes’ dismissal for a second yellow card, just about survived in the end to continue their winning streak.

Apart from a couple of scores from Joyce and Meehan, Cork were dominant for most of the first half, spurred by the growing influence of Pearse O’Neill at midfield. And, fittingly, he finished off an impressive attack by firing a shot high into the Galway net for a goal after 27 minutes.

Cork finished the half with the closing point, Donnacha O’Connor finding the target via an upright for a 1-10 to 0-6 interval advantage. The pattern continued on the resumption as Paul O’Flynn and Pearse O’Neill kicked points, but Galway’s fighting spirit soon became evident.

Luckily for Cork, Daniel Goulding and Colm O’Neill engineered points to keep Galway at bay and keep Cork on track for a possible final place, with the win almost certainly ensuring their place in the division.

CORK: K OHalloran; R Carey, M Shields, E Cotter; P Kissane (0-1), G Spillane, N O’Leary; A O’Connor, P O’Neill (1-2); P Kerrigan (0-1, D OConnor (0-4), P Kelly (0-3, two frees); D Goulding (0-2), P O’Flynn (0-2), C O’Neill (0-4, three frees). Subs: J Hayes for O’Flynn (46 mins); C O’Driscoll for O’Leary (56 mins); F Goold for A O’Connor (67 mins); J Masters for C O’Neill (69 mins).

GALWAY: E O Conghaile; D ONeill, F Hanley, D Burke; D Reilly (0-1), D Blake, G ODonnell; B Cullinane, P Conroy; C Healy, S Armstrong (0-1, 45), D Dunleavy; M Meehan (0-6, two frees), J Bergin, N Joyce (0-7, five frees). Subs: C de Paor (0-1) for Armstrong (9 mins); G Sice (1-0) for Dunleavy (40 mins); M Clancy for Healy (53 mins); D Cummins (0-1) for Joyce (63 mins).

Referee: M Condon (Waterford).