1. Cork kick on again
Just like last year, Cork have booked one of the coveted spots for the All-Ireland quarter-final weekend. Dig deeper for the detail and a different picture emerges. 2022 saw a spirited display but ultimately emphatic loss to Kerry and a pair of wins over Louth and Limerick, the two teams freshly promoted from Division 3 that spring.
The route to the last eight in 2023 has been far more challenging and more impressive from Cork that they have negotiated it. The jolt to the system at losing to Clare has not deterred them, last Sunday’s win over Mayo was a milestone for their group, backing it up by defeating Roscommon yesterday reinforced the substance of that success. It is the first time that the Cork footballers have beaten two Division 1-ranked teams in the same championship since 2009.
Taking down another elite Connacht opponent was secured by an imperfect display. Cork were flat for the first half hour and their game management was poor heading down the stretch, as fatigue seemed to seep into their setup, when they had surged five clear. That they still triumphed illustrates the scale of improvement in their team in digging out results from tricky scenarios.
Cork’s third-quarter performance was terrific. Between the 34th and 59th minutes they outscored Roscommon 1-10 to 0-4, a scoring burst that essentially paved the way for their success. Matty Taylor, Ian Maguire, Brian O’Driscoll and Rory Maguire supplied the critical interventions, and when Cork were on the brink after Roscommon dragged them level, they summoned a response to notch the winner through Kevin O’Donovan.
2. Rossies hit by last 12 exit
For the second year in a row, Roscommon are left with that sinking feeling as they suffer a last 12 exit at the hands of Munster opposition. The outcome was the same, the means of arriving at it were different. Whereas last summer they coughed up a four-point advantage to lose by one at the hands of Clare, yesterday saw them reel Cork in with five successive points to draw level and arm them with strong momentum, only for Cork to pounce for the match-winner.
That the late fightback counted for nothing will irritate them, that they bossed the first-half exchanges and only had a one-point cushion behind them at the interval, was another source of regret. Roscommon’s sense of maturity and control were the shining characteristics of the opening period, epitomised by Enda Smith. The Murtagh brothers finished with 11 points between, five before the break and six afterwards.
Yet they ran out of championship road by the final whistle. The game fell badly away from them in the third quarter, they took on too much water to bail themselves out. A season which contained highlights like a productive league that generated third place in Division 1, a rousing Connacht opening win over Mayo and a forceful showing in chiselling out a draw against Dublin, ends on the tough note of a departure before the main action switches to Croke Park.
3. Bench impacts are key
It was an encounter settled by fine margins. Cork grabbed the injury-time winner, it was a game they deserved to advance from and yet was one where their grip looked precarious in the closing stages. To get them over the finish line, they once more dug deep into their reserves and were rewarded. Cork’s bench contributed 1-7 last Sunday, spearheaded by Steven Sherlock who was handed a starting jersey on this occasion in the absence of the injured Brian Hurley.
Yesterday Cork’s substitutes struck 1-3, another return that was invaluable in swinging a game towards them. Chris Óg Jones was dynamic in buzzing around attack to pick off two points. Conor Corbett struck the solitary goal of the afternoon, a finish that captured his attacking precocity, evident since his 2019 minor exploits. Most crucially Kevin O’Donovan raised the winning white flag in the 73rd minute, the same stage of the game where he had launched over a leveller against Clare in April, a pattern of perfectly timing his runs from late.
Roscommon had their own impressive replacements. Daire Cregg rifled over two points, both glorious kicks with one from a mark and one from play after a beautifully timed bounce to evade the Cork defence. Keith Doyle produced a couple of towering catches in the midfield aerial exchanges late on, a time when Roscommon had wrestled back control.
The bench impacts were key, Cork got a sufficient return from theirs to get over the line.
