Dublin's power-house display takes Cork by storm

FROM THE ARCHIVE:  Dublin booked an All-Ireland final appointment with Galway after an emphatic victory over Cork on August 28th, 1983. It was a much improved showing by the Leinster side from the previous week at Croke Park. Paddy Downeywas in Pairc Ui Chaoimh for the replay.

THE JACKS, Mark II, are back for sure. Tommy Drumm’s souped-up Dublin team left 43,433 spectators in no doubt about that at Páirc Uí Chaoimh yesterday.

Playing with much more precision and power than they had shown in the drawn game, Dublin dominated Cork from start to finish of the All-Ireland semi-final replay and, with 11 points to spare at the end, gave a loud and clear warning to Galway that the Sam Maguire Cup could be back in the capital city on September 18th – after an absence of six years.

As a contest, the game bore no resemblance to the epic draw of the previous Sunday. Cork had regressed as much in a week as Dublin had improved and the Leinster champions could well have won by a far bigger margin.

The change of venue quite obviously held no fears for Dublin.

The dragons envisaged by some of their supporters were nowhere to be seen.

In fact, the choice of Páirc Uí Chaoimh was a vital factor in Dublin’s favour, for the challenge of moving out of Croke Park where they had played all previous championship games this year, increased their commitment by at least 20 per cent.

Conversely, one assumes, it detracted from the high pitch of endeavour at which Cork had played in the drawn game. The speculation – rife in Cork last week – that home ground would give the Munster champions a decided advantage was proved fallacious.

Cork did not make a comparable effort it seems because, having been unlucky the week before, they thought that they would now take on Dublin with a clear-cut advantage.

Dublin played magnificently.

Their defence – notably the full back line – had tightened up considerably and their attacking tactics, all the way in from the half back line, bemused their opponents and at times reduced them to total disarray.

Cork’s performance was dreadful. Time and again the defence was cleaved wide open; they toiled at midfield with little worthwhile success and a combination of appallingly bad passing and vigilant Dublin covering dismantled most of their attacking moves.

They did attack strongly for a period midway through the first half and in the second half narrowed the gap between the teams to two points (l-9 to 1-7) when Dave Barry sent a perfectly taken penalty kick blazing into the net well beyond the reach of the Dublin goalkeeper John O’Leary.

Those efforts raised the hopes of Cork’s big following, but only momentarily, for Dublin had all the answers to any threat that their rivals could produce. The poverty of the Cork attack is illustrated by the fact that they scored only one of their five first-half points from play. They kicked only 1-4 from play in the whole game compared with Dublin’s 3-11 – most of which were beautifully taken scores.

Often it seemed that Dublin had 20 players on the field so easily was a blue jersey found by a colleague for perfectly delivered foot and hand passes.

This situation became more pronounced late in the second half when movements were constructed and scores taken with textbook efficiency.

Cork’s marking was dreadfully loose and that flaw contributed immensely to the ease with which Dublin gained and held possession.

In contrast, Cork’s butterfingered handling of the ball lost them possession at crucial moments – in defence and attack – and their passing was so badly executed that, more often than not, the ball dropped into the hands or fell at the feet of an unmarked Dublin player.

Once again, Dublin pulled a trick which completely foxed the Cork mentors. They lined out with Barney Rock at right full forward and John Caffrey at right half and Cork fell for the ploy hook, line and sinker by moving Jimmy Kerrigan to left full back and John Evans from the corner to left half.

Kerrigan, hero of the drawn game, was thus prevented from using his highly developed attacking flair which is always a feature of his games in the half back line. Dublin had won a vital round of the psychological battle and the right wing of their attack prospered greatly.

Kerrigan and Evans reverted to their original places at the start of the second half, but the damage had then been done and though Kerrigan’s play improved on the wing he never managed to attain the level of performance which dominated the Croke Park scene on the previous Sunday.

Another Dublin tactic also payed rich dividends. That was Ciarán Duff’s roving commission which often took him to the right side of the field and occasionally back beyond the halfway line. The extra man was thus created in the build up of attacking moves and Cork were unable to cope with the overlap as their opponents advanced to scoring positions.

Duff was Dublin’s outstanding forward in the first half and he continued to play a major role when Anton O’Toole, Rock, Caffrey, Tom Conroy and Joe McNally attained the same high standard after the change of ends.

With their full back Kevin Kehilv again caught for speed and altogether bamboozled in his duel with the great O’Toole and Kerrigan’s role reduced to a policing function in the corner, the Cork defence was easy prey for the swift and skilful advances of the Dublin forwards.

At midfield too, Cork were always struggling, although Don Creedon and Colman Corrigan made many brave efforts to come to terms with Brian Mullins and his partner Jim Ronayne.

Creedon made the mistake of trying to field the high ball with the towering Mullins when he should have broken it down to a waiting team-mate.

Thus was much possession lost to the home side around the halfway line.

Cork switched Christy Ryan to midfield and Corrigan to centre half back in the 15th minute of the second half, but the alteration made no appreciable difference in the central exchanges.

It did, however, give Dublin’s Conroy a chance to storm into the game in the last quarter for Corrigan had no answer to the speed and guile of the centre forward.

Mullins was a huge inspiration to the Dublin team, the indestructible axle on which the whole machine rotated smoothly and with such telling effect.

His fielding was marvellous and his passing invariably creative and, though the winning team had many shining stars, Mullins laid an undeniable claim to the title “Man of the Match”.

His partner Ronayne also had a brilliant game and his contribution to the victory was at least equal to those of Duff. Also O’Toole and Rock in the attack and there was the wonderful defensive work of Mick Holden, who performed greater feats than any of his colleagues in that sector.

Ray Hazley too improved on last week’s performance and gave Cork’s key forward, Denis Allen, very little room to pose the threat which caused so much havoc in the Dublin defence in the drawn game. The Cork full forward John Allen again had the better of the Dublin full back Gerry Hargan, but did not get the ball through as often on this occasion.

In one of Cork’s rare advances into a goal-scoring position, John Allen had the net at his mercy early in the second half, but drove the ball wide across the post after receiving a lovely pass from Kerrigan.

With the exception of Dave Barry, the losers’ best forward, the Cork half forward line made little progress in their battle with the Dublin half backs, though this situation improved marginally when Tadhg O’Reilly replaced Eoin O’Mahoney in the second half, a stage at which Barry moved to the 40.

There was one blemish – albeit a small one – on Dublin’s splendid display. They were excessively physical and got away with it many times from a rather lenient referee. Four of the Dublin players – Duff, Mullins, Hazley and Holden – were booked by PJ McGrath for taking down opponents with dangerous foot trips.

This facet of the game is underlined by the fact that Cork were awarded 25 frees over the 70 minutes, while Dublin’s total was eight.

The first piece of the ultimate pattern of the game fell into place in the third minute when, in a swift attack, Rock was pulled down in the square by the goalkeeper Michael Creedon. The resultant penalty was taken by Mullins and, though the kick was not a gem, he sent it to the back of the net and the Leinster champions led by 1-1 to nil.

Dublin’s lead at the interval (1-7 to 0-5) was by no means intimidating, but so poorly had the home team been playing that the Cork supporters did not have to ask for whom the bell tolled.

Barry’s penalty goal gave Cork some heart in the 11th minute of the second half, but only briefly, for Dublin struck back for a point which Rock kicked from a 50-yard free and then a beautiful goal by Duff when the left half forward carried the ball for more than 35 yards, cutting through the Cork defence like a knife through butter.

That score gave Dublin a lead of 2-10 to 1-7 and, with 10 minutes of the game to go, they were seven points in front – 2-14 to 1-10.

Then came another brief Cork resurgence. A long free-kick by O’Reilly dropped into the Dublin square. Barry fielded the ball and turning quickly beat O’Lcary, who had earlier in the half made a great save from the same player.

That goal reduced Dublin’s lead to four points, but, sensing danger, the Leinster champions then lifted their game to the highest pitch of the day and in the last five minutes scored two goals and a point to leave Cork’s dream of a championship double in ruins.

Rock scored the first of those two goals when he received a lovely cross from O’Toole and McNally took the second, again from close range and with the goalkeeper out of position half a minute before full time.

Although it was a mere bonus, that score compensated for an earlier miss by McNally from the same position. O’Toole also missed a goal when he struck the butt of a post just before half-time.

But lost opportunities of that kind were few and far between in a marvellous display of skilful and high-powered football by Dublin.

The attendance did not reach the Páirc Uí Chaoimh capacity which officials had expected.

Timid followers were probably scared off by all the talk last week of a doomsday situation.

Happily, nothing happened among spectators at the game to mar a great occasion.

DUBLIN:J O'Leary; M Holden, G Hargan, R Hazley; P Canavan, T Drumm (capt), PJ Buckley; J Ronayne (0-1), B Mullins (1-0, pen); J Caffrey (0-1), T Conroy (0-2), K Duff (1-3); B Rock (1-4, 0-4 from frees); A O'Toole (0-1); J McNally (1-3). Subs: J Kearns for Caffrey (55 mins).

CORK:M Creedon; M Healy. K Kehily, J Kerrigan (0-1); M Hannon, C Ryan (capt), J Evans; D Creedon, C Corrigan; T Murphy (0-1), E O'Mahoney, D Barry (2-1, 1-0 from pen); D Allen, J Allen, J Cleary (0-7, six frees). Subs: N Burns for Hannon (half-time); T O'Reilly for O'Mahoney (46 mins); E Fitzgerald for Murphy (58 mins).

Referee:PJ McGrath (Mayo).