CORK blitzed Dublin with a magnificent seven to march into another All-Ireland SHC final.
A fortnight removed from their quarter-final upset of Limerick, the Dubs were brought crashing back to earth by the rampant Rebels.
Alan Connolly bagged three goals, while Brian Hayes and Tim O’Mahony hit two apiece as the Leesiders earned a shot at atoning for the defeat to Clare in last year’s decider.
It was a statement win from Pat Ryan’s side, which will only serve to enhance their status as favourites to end the 20-year drought when they face Kilkenny or Tipperary in the July 20 showpiece.
Against a Dublin side who had kept clean sheets in each of their previous three outings, Cork showed that no cobwebs were allowed to gather during the four-week break since their penalty-shootout defeat of Limerick in the Munster final.
Victorious boss Ryan said: “Our preparation over the last three to four weeks has been excellent, which was a huge focus on what we wanted to do after coming off the Munster final.
“Credit to the players, credit to their families, their spouses, girlfriends and all that side of it for giving the lads the space to be able to prepare in that four weeks and we got that performance we wanted.”
In their previous 28 games, the only game in which Cork failed to register a goal was last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final against Dublin.
Backed by the vast majority of the spectators at a close-to-full Croke Park, they were ruthless and clinical early on here as the ball rattled the Dubs’ net THREE times inside the opening 14 minutes.
Hayes claimed the first when he did brilliantly to deceive Seán Brennan by flicking the ball onto his hurley before steering the sliotar past the keeper.
With O’Mahony, Darragh Fitzgibbon and Declan Dalton particularly influential in the middle third, Hayes then turned provider for Connolly to fire home emphatically.
Back from injury for his first appearance in nine weeks, Dalton’s long-range accuracy was typically impressive.
The Fr O’Neill’s man finished with 0-5, with three of those scores launched from inside his own half.
O’Mahony did the heavy lifting for Connolly to score his second goal in as many minutes.
But the finish from the Blackrock marksman was sheer artistry as he beat Brennan with the type of one-handed smash that would draw applause from the galleries at Wimbledon.
Nevertheless, creating chances was not a struggle for Dublin either and it was Cian O’Sullivan who led their fight. The Naomh Bríd ace, whose father hails from Cork, finished with 2-5 from play.
His first goal was timely, giving Dublin some hope as it arrived within a minute of Connolly’s second. He rifled the sliotar to the roof of the Cork net after it was squared by Seán Currie.
Dublin were inches away from raising another green flag later in the first half, only for Fergal Whitely to strike the crossbar with his attempt to cut the gap to five points in the 20th minute.
By then, the Dubs had already replaced two of their starting backs.
Andy Dunphy was called ashore after picking up an early booking for a foul on Patrick Horgan, before Conor McHugh was forced off with an injury.
With centre-back and skipper Chris Crummey also missing through suspension, it was not the kind of start that Niall Ó Ceallacháin had in mind.
The Dublin manager said: “We’re very disappointed. The way it panned out was obviously not how we planned it or what we’d hoped for this morning, needless to say.
“First of all, by far the better team won the game. Absolutely no question. No excuses.
“We had to be better in lots of ways. I thought they were excellent though as well.
“They were very well set up and were extremely sharp, full of energy, very aggressive. They were the better team throughout.”
Aiming to reach their first All-Ireland final since 1961, Dublin were also seeking to bridge a 98-year gap to their last Championship triumph over Cork.
But the Munster champions looked capable of raising a green flag whenever the ball was delivered to the general vicinity of their inside line.
And the fourth arrived in the 32nd minute when a sublime Horgan and Connolly combination teed up Hayes to do the rest.
On a day when the Cork forwards hogged the plaudits, there were performances of the highest calibre from several occupants of their rearguard too.
The man who stood out was Seán O’Donoghue. Trailing by 4-13 to 1-11 at the break, Dublin fashioned a goal chance within a couple of minutes of the restart. However, Ronan Hayes was foiled by a hook from O’Donoghue. It was one of many key interventions made by the Inniscarra man.
Fine work from Horgan engineered Cork’s fifth goal in the 42nd minute, with O’Mahony finishing neatly. But Dublin saw a chink of light as their opponents momentarily looked flat and listless.
The centrepiece of an unanswered burst of 1-3 for the Sky Blues was a second goal for O’Sullivan. The Cork defence were caught napping when he netted following a quickly-taken Currie free.
A point from John Hetherton, who was a late addition to the starting line-up, brought Dublin back to within nine points on 49 minutes. Yet Cork turned the screw in the final quarter as they surged home in style.
The Dubs were hit for six when O’Mahony flicked home his second. And after a rampaging run from sub Robbie O’Flynn, Connolly wrapped up his fourth Cork hat-trick in 16 months with a lethal finish from a tight angle.
Ryan added: “It wasn’t perfect. There’s lots of stuff we’ll go after as regards what we want for the All-Ireland final.
“But we’re in the All-Ireland final tonight and we’ll get to watch two great teams go at it tomorrow really hammer and tongs. That’s a special place to be for us.”
CORK 7-26
DUBLIN 2-21
CORK: P Collins; S O’Donoghue, E Downey, N O’Leary; C Joyce 0-1, R Downey, M Coleman; T O’Mahony 2-1, D Fitzgibbon 0-3; D Dalton 0-5, 2f, S Barrett, D Healy 0-1; P Horgan 0-8, 6f, A Connolly 3-2, B Hayes 2-1.
Subs: R O’Flynn for Healy 50 mins, S Kingston 0-2 for Horgan 55, T O’Connell for R Downey 59, C Lehane 0-1 for Barrett 63, J O’Connor 0-1 for Dalton 67.
DUBLIN: S Brennan; P Smyth, J Bellew, A Dunphy; P Doyle, C McHugh, C Donohoe; C Burke 0-3, B Hayes 0-1; R McBride, C O’Sullivan 2-5, F Whitely 0-3; S Currie 0-7, 7f, J Hetherton 0-1, R Hayes.
Subs: D Lucey for Dunphy 14 mins, D Power for McHugh 20, D Burke 0-1 for McBride h-t, D Ó Dúlaing for R Hayes 46, C O’Riain for O’Sullivan 66.REFEREE: J Murphy (Limerick)
