Cork 1-15 Bernard Brogan 1-14

23rd Aug 2010

More the excitement of the occasion and a chance for the Rebels to pulverise the capital forces than the actual football itself made yesterday's victory against Dublin the sweetest for decades.

This was everything for Dubliners. The opportunity to 'quieten' a county that has dominated the sporting landscape of the island for as long as the history books can recall. A mouth watering prospect to any minnow.

Above: The entire Dublin team that lost to Cork

But instead of maintaining their discipline like the Cork players did (even Noelie didn't nut anyone) the capital forces capitulated and went back to their aggressive instincts and started fouling all round them. Puke football's latest purveyors crumbled when the heat of the battle became too intense.

Images of inter-Dublin fighting witnessed by Corkonians on Saturday nights outside Burger King on O'Connell Street weren't far away as Dublin bludgeoned Cork's gallant forwards as they tried to score.

One Dublin lad temporarily forgot which sport he was playing and resorted to rugby tackling Colm O'Neill who was bearing down on goal. Donnacha O'Connor made no mistake with the penalty yet Dublin continued to smash into Cork players without any thought of the outcome. The truth is that the defensive wall was weak and knackered. Cork could sense it.

Dublin weren't entirely boring or frustrating to watch. Fair play to Bernard Brogan. A decent honest lad by the look and sound of him and he gave Carey and Shieldsy an amount of hassle - a good training run for the lads for the final.

No doubt Brogan probably has a maternal Cork background and the RTE boys gave him something nice for the mantelpiece.

That said, Donnacha O'Connor's brain should also have got an award. Having been accused of floundering in the past how fantastic was it to see him seal the deal with the penalty? Despite having a face that looks like his body temperature is about 10 degrees above what is considered safe his free taking remained ice cool as the infamous 'last fifteen minutes' (as endorsed by Colm Cooper) ensued.

And now to the excitement of the final and everything that entails. Relish the build up 'cos we will.