Loss away to Donegal is ‘complete eye opener’ admits Cork boss John Cleary

Donegal 1-20 

Cork 2-6

CHRIS McNULTY REPORTS

THERE were no excuses from John Cleary as he boarded the bus in Ballybofey.

The Cork manager was left to ponder an 11-point defeat on the five-hour trip home.

Patrick McBrearty’s late goal might well have put a gloss on the scoreboard for Donegal, but Jim McGuinness’s side were good value for their win.

‘To be beaten is not the end of the world but the performance we would be very disappointed with,’ Cleary said.

‘We are capable of being much better than that, we have played better than that.

‘Last year, the most we were beaten in any game was four points so to be defeated like that the first day was very disappointing. It was a complete eye opener and it is back to the drawing board.’

Brian Hurley came in as a late inclusion to the Cork side while Oisin Gallen was an eleventh-hour drop-out from Donegal’s XV, owing to the reoccurrence of a hamstring ailment. Those changes might well have narrowed the odds, but McBrearty – a survivor from Donegal’s 2012 All-Ireland win and now their captain – posted 1-6.

Donegal were 0-12 to 1-3 ahead at the break as man-of-the-match Odhran Doherty lit their fuse again after Eoghan McSweeney batted in a 15th minute goal.

Briefly, Cork were level when Brian O’Driscoll curled over, but Doherty’s delicious score roused Donegal to life again. Ciaran Thompson thumped over from distance and the hosts made particularly good use of the strong gale in their sails.

Cork opted to go against the wind in the first half. As luck would have it, the anemometers spun considerably slower in the second half.

Cleary said: ‘We had played against the wind in the last three or four matches that we had, the McGrath Cup and challenge matches, and it worked out. If we had known the wind would die at half-time we certainly wouldn’t have. Donegal got four points early on, we didn’t get to the pitch of it and they drove on.

‘I’m not making excuses, there was a gale there in the first half but when we came out after half-time the wind seemed to have died considerably. Look, that wasn’t the reason we lost like that.

‘Donegal were at the pitch of the game much better than us, they pushed up better than us, they outfought us, outplayed us, there were too many things that went wrong for us and they played very well as well.’

McSweeney’s goal actually opened Cork’s account in the 15th minute. McSweeney rose to palm in from a delivery by Ruairi Deane, given the nod to start after suffering a dead leg recently.

Stephen Sherlock and Daniel O’Mahony came in off the bench and Cleary confirmed that Sean Powter and Paul Walsh ‘aren’t that far away’ from making their returns.

Cork’s hopes were fleetingly lifted again when they goaled again in the 50th minute. With home goalkeeper Gavin Mulreany caught out of his goal, Chris Óg Jones applied the finish after Deane’s delivery soared into the gaping space.

McBrearty stepped up to extinguish any lingering thoughts of a late comeback, his goal five minutes from time adding a cherry on top for Donegal.

‘Donegal were up for it and when a team gets on top and they keep dictating, we just could not get to the pace of it and we could not get to the pitch of the game,’ Cleary said.

‘They played better than us and there were times, there were flashes when we scored our two goals and a couple scores we got that we were capable of living with them, but they settled down again and they hit us and they were completely on top for long periods of that game.’

Now, it’s off to Ardee and a joust with a Louth side narrowly beaten by Armagh on Saturday.

Scorers

Donegal: P McBrearty 1-6 (6f); O Doherty 0-3; D Ó Baoill 0-2; J Brennan, C Thompson, R McHugh, P Mogan, S O’Donnell, B McCole, D Mac Giolla Bhride, C McGonagle 0-1; G Mulreandy (1f) 0-1 each.

Cork: C Óg Jones 1-2; E McSweeney 1-0; B O’Driscoll 0-2; M Cronin, S Sherlock (1f) 0-1 each.

Donegal: G Mulreany; M Curran, B McCole, K McGettigan; R McHugh, C McGonagle, C Moore; C Thompson, D Mac Giolla Bhride; P Mogan, O Doherty, S O’Donnell; D O Baoill, P McBrearty, J Brennan.

Subs: E Gallagher for McGettigan (23), O Caulfield for O’Donnell (55), J Mac Ceallabhui for Doherty (both 55), L McGlynn for Brennan (64), A Doherty for O Baoill (69).

Cork: P Doyle; M Shanley, T Walsh, S Meehan; L Fahy, R Maguire, M Taylor; I Maguire, C O’Callaghan; E McSweeney, D Buckley, B O’Driscoll; R Deane, B Hurley, C Jones.

Subs: D Cashman for Shanley (47), M Cronin for Buckley (49), S Sherlock for Hurley (53), F Herlihy for Deane (56), D O’Mahony for McSweeney (66).

Referee: N Mooney (Cavan).