A kicking masterclass from Paddy McBrearty spurred Donegal on to an All-Ireland quarter final date with Dublin at Croke Park today.
The Kilcar man notched up a superb 11 points of his side’s tally as Donegal eventually overcame Cork by 0-21 to 1-15 at GAA headquarters.
It took Rory Gallagher’s side a while to get a stranglehold on the game and midway through the opening half found themselves five points behind thanks partly to a goal from Kerrigan.
Indeed but for the boot of McBrearty, who scored seven first half points, it could well have been curtains for Donegal by the interval.
Donegal stuck to their task in the second half and scored seven lethal scores without reply as Cork failed to score for more than 20 minutes in the second half.
The teams matched eachother point for point after that as both tried to break away.
It was Donegal who raced in front as they latched on two points to go 0-19 to 1-14 ahead with ten minutes to go.
At that stage you felt Donegal wee getting the upper hand but Cork won a lot of Mark Anthony McKinley’s kick-outs when he chose to go long (how Big Neil Gallagher would have helped us!).
But they were patient.
They played the ball back and forth and, unlike against Tyrone, they managed to find the holes and punch through.
Scores from Ryan McHugh, a hard-working Michael Murphy and the sweet boot of McNeilas gave them the cushion that was needed to see out the game.
The afternoon belonged to McBrearty whom the Dubs will no doubt single out for extra attention next Saturday.
