Donegal come undone as goal-hungry Cork lay down marker

Two second-half goals inside a minute for Cork saw them record a deserved two point victory over a Donegal side whose unbeaten season to date comes to an end.

Both sides battled evenly from the off with Paddy McBrearty's five first-half points for Donegal ensuring the visitors led by two at the break.

Cork showed their devastating pace on the counter attack on 18 minutes with the electric Matty Taylor accelerating from midfield towards goal before burying past goalkeeper Shaun Patton and putting Cork two to the good.

The pace from Cork was a sign of things to come over the course of the afternoon. Corks turnovers in defence under pressure and counter-attacking play devastated Donegal and was the difference in the end.

Two further Cork goals with the second half barely under way put Cork into a healthy four-point lead which stretched to five at stages with the Donegal fightback inevitable as the half progressed.

A purple patch from the Ulster champions in the last quarter of the game ensured a grandstand finish as they got themselves back level with just injury time to play, but with a rousing home crowd behind them, Cork finished strongly with the last two scores of the game to record a huge and well deserved victory in the round robin series.

It was a patient start from both sides with the two teams happy to familiarise themselves with the ball and settle into the very warm conditions on Leeside.

Scores were few and far between with just one point a piece after 10 minutes of play. McBrearty opened the scoring with an easy free in front of the posts after three minutes of play with Brian Hurley pointing also from a free on 10 minutes.

Donegal showed just what they were capable of on 12 minutes and should have had a goal with two