Derry have reached the semi-finals of the All Ireland Senior Football championship after a four point win over Cork 1-12 go 1-8 at Croke Park this afternoon (throw in 1.45 pm).
It is the second time the Oakleafers have reached the semi-final on the spin and will be hoping to reach the final this year.
Also in the semi-finals are Kerry who beat Tyrone and while Monaghan defeated Armagh in a penalty shoot out.
The last of the quarter finals will be played at 4 pm this afternoon when Dublin host Mayo.
Kerry proved too strong for Tyrone while Monaghan broke Armagh hearts in a dramatic penalty shootout in Saturday’s quarter-finals at Croke Park.
While Derry are unlikely to get overly excited by the performance, they did enough to secure their semi-final berth and continue a smooth progression through 2023 after earning promotion to Division Two, retaining the Ulster title and topping the All-Ireland round-robin group.
When Derry met Clare in last year’s quarter-final, the Ulster champions ran riot with three first-half goals helping them establish a nine-point lead at the break, but they were given a much sterner examination by Cork during a cagey first half.
Derry did manage to keep their noses in front for much of the opening 35 minutes.
While Colm O’Callaghan opened Cork’s account early on, a couple of Shane McGuigan frees and an Ethan Doherty score from play put Ciaran Meenagh’s side in the ascendancy.
After a ’45 from in-form Cork forward Steven Sherlock, Derry reeled off another three successive scores, two of which came from the lively Paul Cassidy before Doherty recorded his second of the afternoon.
Cork initially struggled to make the most of their forays forward, but with Derry’s scores running dry after the 26th minute, the Rebels hauled themselves back into proceedings with Ruairi Deane, Sherlock and Kevin O’Donovan raising white flags to make it a one-point game at the break.
Maguire’s goal looked like it might breathe life into the Cork challenge mid-way through the second half, but incredibly Derry had a goal of their own less than a minute later as Conor Doherty showed composure to dummy and then finish into the bottom corner of the net.
You sensed that Derry had a gear or two more, while the Rebels looked a bit lost in the Derry third of the field
With four minutes of added time, Shane McGuigan could have given Derry a second goal but his penalty was saved by the Cork keeper Micheal Aodh Martin.
But the Oakleafers managed to see out the game and now march on to another semi-final.
Derry: Odhran Lynch; Chrissy McKaigue, Eoghan McEvoy, Conor McCluskey; Conor Doherty (1-0), Gareth McKinless, Padraig McGrogan; Conor Glass, Brendan Rogers (0-2); Niall Toner, Paul Cassidy (0-2), Ethan Doherty (0-2); Ciaran McFaul (0-1), Shane McGuigan (0-4f), Niall Loughlin (0-1).
Subs: Benny Heron for N Toner (45), Lachlan Murray for N Loughlin (56), Padraig Cassidy for C McFaul (58), Shea Downey for E McEvoy (66), Paul McNeill for E Doherty (70+3)
Cork: Micheal Aodh Martin; Maurice Shanley, Rory Maguire, Tommy Walsh; Kevin O’Donovan, Daniel O’Mahony, Matty Taylor; Colm O’Callaghan, Ian Maguire; Brian O’Driscoll, Ruairi Deane, Killian O’Hanlon; Sean Powter, Steven Sherlock, Conor Corbett.
Subs: Eoghan McSweeney (0-1) for K O’Hanlon (39), Chris Og Jones (0-1) for S Powter (50), Brian Hurley for S Sherlock (56), John O’Rourke for B O’Driscoll (59), Paul Walsh for R Deane (65).
Referee: Joe McQuillan (Cavan)
Tags: