DUBS DO IT THE HOWARD WAY

Farrell's men only hit it in 'fits and starts'

- BY PAT NOLAN

AFTER the first game at Croke Park on Saturday, anything felt possible.

Of course, a win for Cork, while huge, wouldn't have been anything nearly as seismic as what had gone before, given that Dublin have already lost two games in this Championship and Cork have shown an ability to raise their game against stronger opposition.

And they did so again but ultimately didn't threaten Dublin enough in the last 10 minutes or so when the game was up for grabs.

Indeed, Dublin manager Dessie Farrell revealed afterwards Con O'Callaghan was an option off the bench but they didn't need him.

They'll have felt it ought to have been more. Jones was denied a second goal by Stephen Cluxton in the 30th minute and though Cork converted the resulting 45 and pushed four points clear, Seán Bugler hit a crucial two-pointer on the stroke of half-time to make it 1-8 to 0-9.