Cork dominates Dublin to secure spot in All-Ireland final

Believe the hype.

Cork made it back-to-back All-Ireland finals with a seven-goal, 20-point demolition of Dublin in front of a full house of 82,300 on Jones' Road. Alan Connolly bagged a hat-trick while Brian Hayes and Tim O'Mahony both hit the net twice as the Rebels overwhelmed the surprise semi-finalists and took one step closer to ending their 20-year wait for Liam MacCarthy. Cork had one foot in the decider by half-time when they led by ten points, 4-13 to 1-12, following a brace apiece by young full-forwards Connolly and Hayes.

The Rebels were three goals clear just a quarter of an hour in, Connolly grabbing two in as many minutes after Hayes had started the goal rush just six minutes in. Cian O’Sullivan, his side's star performer on the day with 2-05, immediately hit back with Dublin’s first major and they cut the gap to five after half an hour before Hayes sealed more fine interplay between the rampant Rebel forwards. Tim O’Mahony raised a fifth green flag not long into the second half, and though O’Sullivan hit his second goal on 48 minutes, O’Mahony flicked another in three minutes later to dispel any thoughts of a comeback. Connolly put the red icing on the cake late on to delight the overwhelming majority of the capacity crowd at Croker. The Munster and Allianz Hurling League champions are now just one more win away from a clean sweep. Beaten by a single point in extra-time by Clare in last year's decider, the Rebels will go in as favourites to end their record All-Ireland drought against old rivals Kilkenny or Tipperary on 20 July.

Dublin had hopes of reaching a first All-Ireland final since 1961 after their shock quarter-final victory over Limerick and opened the scoring just 11 seconds in through St Brigid's man O'Sullivan. The Dubs lined out with three up front in an attempt to fight fire with fire but it was clear from early on that the Cork attack was more combustible and the backs in blue couldn't extinguish their sizzling interplay. John Hetherton started after his game-turning introduction against the Treaty but was hooked by Seán O'Donoghue two minutes in and found goal opportunities limited thereafter. Declan Dalton (0-5, 2fs) had already scored one point and set up another when he hand-passed to Hayes, who tapped the ball up for himself to bat past Seán Brennan, having started the move as well. Fergal Whitely replied with two points in as many minutes but Cork hit the next three, O'Mahony and two Patrick Horgan frees, before Hayes turned provider in the 12th. He claimed Ciarán Joyce's delivery over the head of Paddy Smyth, eased around John Bellew and laid the sliotar off to Connolly, unmarked to the right of the square to arrow the ball across Brennan. Two minutes later, Cork had a third goal, and arguably the finish of the day from Connolly. From a Sean Currie free, Patrick Collins drove a superb long puckout into space for O’Mahony. He found Connolly and, under pressure this time, the 23-year-old flicked the ball up for himself and smashed it one-handed to the net. Dublin were nine down already, 3-05 to 0-05, and manager Niall Ó Ceallacháin reacted with an early substitution, David Lucey replacing the yellow-carded Andy Dunphy. Almost immediately, the underdogs hit back with a goal of their own, O’Sullivan with a rising shot from the 20, having been brilliantly picked out by Currie. Midfielders Brian Hayes and Darragh Fitzgibbon exchanged points before Dalton and Connolly made it three in a row for Cork. Dublin were already going for goals and though Whitely hit the crossbar and Conor Burke’s score was cancelled out by a dubious Horgan free, they were sufficiently energised to go on their own run of three, through O’Sullivan, Burke – playing at centre-back in place of suspended captain Chris Crummey – and a Currie free. Unfortunately, they also lost corner-back Conor McHugh to injury. Horgan had just put six between them with his first from play when he helped to plunge the knife again in the 32nd minute. The veteran couldn’t control a pass cleanly but deftly flicked the bouncing ball to the in-rushing Connolly. He saw Hayes at the edge of the large square and they had two goals apiece. Connolly and Fitzgibbon concluded the scoring for a double-digit interval lead and Dublin already looked done. That conclusion appeared to be confirmed seven minutes after the restart when Horgan picked up the ball on the edge of the D and turned away from Lucey at a speed most 37-year-olds could only dream of. He sucked in two more defenders and set up O’Mahony for an easy finish. Dublin kept battling and O’Sullivan soon had his second goal, Currie passing a 20m free for a shot that deflected in off O’Mahony. But the Newtownshandrum midfielder was quickly smiling again, grabbing his second goal after confusion in the Dubs defence and the ball bouncing kindly off the stick of Smyth. A decisive scoreline of 6-17 to 2-17 but 20 minutes were left to play so Pat Ryan took advantage, removing Horgan, who departed to a huge ovation, and centre-back Rob Downey, who has had some injuries this season, with an eye on the final. Substitutes Shane Kingston (0-2), Conor Lehane and Jack O'Connor all made scoring impacts as Dublin vainly chased goals, Connolly instead scoring his third and Cork’s seventh in the 66th minute after a searing run up the middle from replacement Robbie O’Flynn. A 20-point margin in the end, the biggest in a semi-final since Tipperary hit Limerick for six in 2009. It will take some defensive display from Kilkenny or Tipperary to deny this superb attacking outfit the long-awaited 31st All-Ireland title.

According to the source: RTE.ie.