Cork 0-16...Mayo 1-10: If the truth were told, Cork supremo Larry Tompkins endured greater anxiety in ensuring that his players were dispatched in time to Heuston Station for the scheduled return train journey to Cork than at any time during a lop-sided encounter with a disappointing and flat Mayo at Croke Park.
To say that it was a close contest because only three points divided the teams at the finish would be a distortion of the facts.
Kieran McDonald slotted a penalty kick in injury-time to take the dirty look off the scoreboard for the westerners.
Cork controlled the game almost throughout and their task was made all the easier by Mayo's unbelievable number of errors in attack. The Mayo front runners either fumbled the ball into the paths of Cork defenders or kicked hopelessly wide.
It was a forgettable day at headquarters for the Connacht men and a comfortable one for a Cork side that at times looked as though they was operating well within themselves.
Early on the paucity of Mayo's bid to return to the All-Ireland semi-final scene was signposted when James Gill was wide of the mark with a close-in free and David Tiernan and James Horan were equally at fault.
Apart from a quite adventurous full forward in Brian Maloney Mayo lacked the influence of players of the stature of Colin Corkery and Brendan Jer O'Sullivan.
Peter Burke had to bring off two spectacular saves from Fionán Murray and Brendan Jer O'Sullivan in the first half. Cork goalkeeper Kevin O'Dwyer tipped over a Maloney pile driver and was also seen to good effect when dealing with a David Tiernan shot at the end of a good move involving David Brady, Stephen Carolan and wing back Aidan Higgins, who was one of the few Mayo success stories.
But Cork seemed always to be in the driving seat. Their half-back line of Eoin Sexton, Ronan McCarthy and Martin Cronin maintained a steady flow of opportunities to Corkery and O'Sullivan.
Between them O'Sullivan and Corkery accounted for 10 Cork points. Two good examples of the general pattern saw Trevor Mortimer drive wide from close range in an attempt for a point and O'Sullivan quickly responding by scoring a point within seconds at the other end.
"That's the difference," was the instant consensus in the press box.
Later, when Mayo decided to change their approach, Mortimer sent a diagonal 50-yard delivery in the direction of James Horan, but the kick was hopelessly misjudged and the ball went harmlessly over the sideline to set up another Cork attack.
Some of Corkery's high fielding, despite close attention from David Heaney, was a treat to watch and some of his six points - three from play and three from frees - were a delight to see. They flew in from long distance, despite efforts by the blue army on the Hill to put him off.
Tompkins said that his team would celebrate the win and then look forward to the game against Kerry, but a closer look at his team's performance does not warrant much celebration. In fact, theirs was a performance that would be vulnerable in the rematch with Kerry.
After leading by 0-9 to 0-5 at the interval Cork resumed in a matter-of-fact manner. This partly explains why they were only four points ahead 16 minutes into the second half. They should have had the game closed down much earlier.
HOW THEY LINED OUT
Cork: 1 K O'Dwyer; 3 C O'Sullivan, 2 S Levis, 4 A Lynch; 5 E Sexton, 6 R McCarthy, 7 M Cronin; 8 N Murphy, 9 G Canty; 10 B J O'Sullivan, 11 J Kavanagh, 12 M McCarthy; 13 P Ó Clúmháin, 14 C Corkery 15 F Murray.
Subs: C Crowley for Ó Clúmháin, 18 mins; C Murphy for F Murray 44 mins; J O'Donoghue for McCarthy, 53 mins; D O'Sullivan for Kavanagh, 60 mins; M Cronin for Canty, 64 mins.
MAYO: 1 P Burke; 2 K Mortimer, 3 D Heaney, 4 G Ruane; 7 A Higgins, 6 J Nallen, 5 N Connelly; 8 D Tiernan, 9 D Brady; 10 C McManamon, 11 T Mortimer, 12 J Gill; 13 S Carolan, 14 B Maloney, 15 J Horan.
Subs: K McDonald for Gill, 25 mins; C Mortimer for Tiernan, 44 mins; S Fitzmaurice for McManamon, 46 mins; M Moyles for Horan, 58 mins; D Sweeney for Carolan, 65 mins.
YELLOW CARDS
Cork: G Canty, B J O'Sullivan.
Mayo: D Tiernan, D Brady, D Heaney.
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