Cork leave Meath breathless

 All-Ireland SFC Semi-final/Cork 1-16 Meath 0-9:With a resounding thud the great expectations hit the floor. Meath, buoyed into this Bank of Ireland All-Ireland football semi-final by an impressive string of qualifier displays and the rising hopes of an apparently rediscovered destiny, found out that at this altitude trying to do even the routine things can leave you short of breath.

A Cork team, hardened by semi-final disappointment in the previous two years and sufficiently motivated to improve on that record, methodically dismantled the challenge of their opponents. Billy Morgan's side were too strong, too athletic and too focused.

Before the match, reservations about Cork centred on the team's scoring potential in the absence of the championship's most productive forward, James Masters.

In the event, the team ran up a very respectable 1-16 and five of the starting attack scored from play.

It should be pointed out that a good many of the scoring opportunities came from the Meath defence being run ragged, which didn't place huge demands on the finishers - five of the points were simply fisted over the bar - but the Cork attack were clinical and disciplined and calmly took chances as they arose without fuss.

After all the debate about Cork's ability to mix attacking styles and fully utilise Michael Cussen's height on the edge of the square, Morgan's game plan was simply to stick with what the team know best.

Their ball-winning ability at the back and strength on the ball constituted the platform from which they ran at pace, mobilising a short-passing, possession game until the opportunity to shoot occurred.

So confident and purposeful were Cork that defenders on the break were able to drive through onto the counterattack, most frequently the half backs Noel O'Leary, Anthony Lynch and Ger Spillane but most memorably Kieran O'Connor, who bombed onto the offensive in the 45th minute and went all the way for a point.

Meath were also handicapped by injury. Darren Fay didn't look 100 per cent and certainly was at sea as Cork pulled him one way and then the other, and Anthony Moyles's absence with a hamstring injury left a weakness in the team's spine, which was ruthlessly exploited.

Around the middle Cork were in total control.

Nicholas Murphy worked tirelessly both in scrapping for possession and running support for the forwards.

Beside him Derek Kavanagh also put in a massive effort and Meath never got a foothold.

His presence as a target man no longer integral to the team effort, Cussen played deep - switching to the 40 with Pearse O'Neill just after the start - and once again his most effective contribution came in a withdrawn role.

His ability to win, hold and distribute possession was a significant factor in the victory.

Without a serviceable supply Meath's hitherto promising full forwards had a difficult afternoon.

What ball came through wasn't easy and the tightness and combativeness of the Cork backs restricted chances.

Stephen Bray's fine form creaked under these twin pressures and, marked by the formidable Graham Canty - who emphasised what a loss he was this time last year - he shot three wides in the first half before recovering a little when switched to the wing and kicking two points after half-time.

Brian Farrell was well marshalled and didn't score from play until the match was effectively over, his best chance from a good delivery by Peadar Byrne coming to nothing when his swivel-and-shot flew straight at the Cork goalkeeper, Alan Quirke, who capably smothered it.

Shane O'Rourke likewise had his best spell when switched to farther out and was central to a brief Meath surge late in the first half when they wiped out Cork's painstakingly assembled 0-5 to 0-2 lead in three minutes.

Significantly, the Munster side responded immediately by rattling off a three-point barrage of their own.

At half-time it was obvious that even if the 0-8 to 0-6 lead was hardly impregnable, Meath were in trouble.

They were finding too much difficulty in winning possession and too much pressure when it came to converting chances - six wides to three telling the story accurately.

One negative from Cork's perspective was an incident in the 12th minute during which Graham Geraghty was seen prone and apparently pole-axed on the ground.

Any scepticism was removed by the television replay, which clearly showed O'Leary to have punched the Meath veteran, though he received only a yellow card from referee Brian Crowe, whose attention had been drawn to the matter by his linesman.

O'Leary has already been the subject of a post-hoc suspension this season, after a Munster final entanglement with Paul Galvin.

He may be in danger of a repeat dose, though the authorities have been generally most reluctant to use their powers in this regard and it would be an irony were the Cork wing back to miss an All-Ireland for striking Geraghty, who has been one of the highest-profile beneficiaries of this leniency.

Meath needed to start the second half with a few statements of intent, but that certainly didn't happen and for nearly half an hour after the restart (up until the 64th minute) they managed all of one point - Bray's first to cut the margin to three after two opening scores from under-21 star Daniel Goulding, who adapted very well to his biggest test as a senior in place of Masters, and Donncha O'Connor - with whom Goulding shared the place-kicking duties - who finished with four points from play.

The match could formally have been declared over in the 51st minute. With Cork leading 0-12 to 0-7, a smartly taken line ball found Kevin McMahon in a bit of space and he dummied Caoimhín King, moved in and placed a shot in the far corner of the net, beyond a bemused Brendan Murphy.

By the time Meath again registered a point, through Farrell, they had been outscored during the second half by 1-7 to 0-1.

The final quarter was played out like a challenge match and, understandably enough, Cork lost a little of their focus and tempo.

But the work had already been done and the county is now back in an All-Ireland final for the first time in eight years.

How they lined out

CORK: 1 A Quirke; 4 K O'Connor (0-1), 2 M Shields, 3 G Canty; 5 N O'Leary, 6 G Spillane, 7 A Lynch; 8 D Kavanagh, 9 N Murphy (0-1); 10 J Miskella (0-1), 11 P O'Neill (0-2), 12 K McMahon (1-2); 13 D Goulding (0-3, two frees), 14 M Cussen, 15 D O'Connor (0-6, two points frees). Subs: 23 C McCarthy for Miskella (half-time); 18 D Duggan for Shields (63 mins); 27 K O'Sullivan for Goulding (64 mins); 21 E Cadogan for O'Leary (69 mins); 26 A Cronin for O'Neill (70 mins). Yellow card: N O'Leary (12 mins).

MEATH: 1 B Murphy; 2 C McGuinness, 3 D Fay, 4 N McKeigue; 17 S Kenny, 6 K Reilly, 7 C King (0-1); 8 M Ward, 9 N Crawford; 20 J Donegan, 10 G Geraghty, 12 P Byrne; 13 S Bray (0-2), 14 S O'Rourke (0-2), 15 B Farrell (0-4, three frees). Subs: 23 C Ward for Donegan (31 mins); 5 C O'Connor for McGuinness (48 mins); 19 C McCarthy for Byrne (53 mins); 22 N McLaughlin for O'Rourke (60 mins). Yellow card: G Geraghty (61 mins). Attendance: 37,994.

Referee: B Crowe (Cavan).