THERE was quite a bit of explaining to be done following Cork's 0-21 to 2-14 victory over Dublin in last Sunday's National Football League final at Croke Park.
Not that Cork had much to explain. They provided proof, if it were needed, that they are going to be extremely hard to detrone as All-Ireland Champions this summer.
Trailing by 2-12 to 0-10 early in the second half, they seemed to have little or no chance of overhauling the Dubs. But they regrouped to retain their league crown with an outstanding example of points scoring.
Absolutely fantastic from Cork's point of view, but what on earth happened to the Dubs? This isn't the first time, after all, that they have collapsed in a big match when victory has been in sight.
Last year's 1-15 to 1-14 All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Cork comes to mind. They lost a five-point lead in that game, and, if you go back to 2006, they blew a seven-point advantage when going under by 1-16 to 2-12 to Mayo in another All-Ireland semi-final.
To be fair, they weren't helped on Sunday by an injury to Bernard Brogan. Dublin's star forward had to retre with a hamstring problem 20 minutes from the end, after contributing 1-3.
But that doesn't explain why the Dubs should have been outscored by 0-11 to 0-2 in the final half hour. The obvious worry is that they simply don't have the mental toughness to win the really big games.
Not so, argues manager manager Pat Gilroy. He said: "If I really believed that, then I would walk out the door and never be in front of this team.
"They will get stick for this. It was an eight-point lead and we lost. We have to deal with that because it is our job. "These are the most honest guys you will find. They have more character and guts to put up with the sort of stuff that surrounds them every day."
As for the reasons that they failed to take advantage of such a big lead, Gilroy felt that losing three forwards, including Bernard Brogan in the second half, had a major bearing. He also added that their finishing could have been better, and, sensibly, conceded that Cork's squad may have more strength in depth.
The fact remains that Cork have developed a marvelous capacity to cope with whatever problem is put in front of them. Their performance in the last half hour was clinical, as they consistently picked off well worked points.
Cork manager Conor Counihan did his best to put it all in perspective, stating: "It can be difficult having an eight-point lead. People are looking, they see the finishing line and the focus is lost.
"We have a fair bit of experience built up and can maybe exploit that type of thing. But we won't necessarily get away with that very often."
True, but on the other side of the coin, the manner of Sunday's victory must have done wonders of Cork's confidence as they approach the defence of their All-Ireland title. Inspired by man-of-the-match Patrick Kelly, they never lost their composure.
Dublin, by contrast, just couldn't get their act together in those tension-filled closing stages, missing a number of good chances.
Twice Tomas Quinn was off target with scoreable frees.
It did seem extraordinary that a left-footer kicker should not have been given one of those to the right of the posts. Either way, it was all a long way removed from the earlier efforts of the Dubs as they built up their big advantage.
Quinn got the first of their goals after just seven minutes, capitalising on some great work by Bernard Brogan before shooting home. Although Cork staying in touch, Dublin appeared to have made the vital breakthrough with a brilliantly taken second goal, this time from Brogan.
When Diarmuid Connolly puts over a point a minute later to make the score 2-12 to 0-10 in the 40th minutes, the big Dublin support in the 36,438 crowd must have been rubbing their hands. But they had reckoned without the experience, talent, and self belief of this Cork side.
Nor did Brogan's injury help but it didn't explain why the game should change so dramatically. Cork calmly began to pick off the points, the influential Kelly getting three of them.
Eventually, Ciaran Sheehan, who finished with 0-4 from play, gets the winning point. Daniel Goulding also finishes with four points, two of which were from frees.
But a remarkable aspect of this Cork performance is that only three of their 21 points came from frees. It's that capacity to score from play, plus their winning mentality, which makes them very much the team to beat in the forthcoming All-Ireland campaign.
Storm in a teacup
RESPECTIVE managers Conor Counihan and Pat Gilroy made light of an incident involving Cork's Michael Shields and Dublin's Philip McMahon as they went into the tunnel at half-time.
The pair squared up to each other as tempers flared and they could find themselves in trouble with the disciplinary authorities. But both Counihan and Gilroy thought the incident didn't amount to much.
"It was a damp squib as far as I was concerned." argued Cork boss Counihan. Gilroy agreed, stating: "I think it was just a bit of pushing and shoving, I don't think anything serious went on."
Donegal take Div. 2 in exciting final
ELSEWHERE, at Croke Park on Sunday, Donegal led from start to finish to beat Laois by 2-11 to 0-16 in an exciting Division Two final.
For most of the contest, Donegal looked sure to win comfortably. They led by 2-7 to 0-5 with half an hour left but the sending off of Adrian O'Hanlon for a second yellow card was to have a major effect on the game.
Laois, inspired by substitutes Donie Kingston and Paul Cahillane, who contributed seven points between them, reduced the deficit to just one. But Donegal duly regained their composure to make sure of victory.
Colm McFadden, Kevin Cassidy and Rory Kavanagh all pointed to give the Ulster county the necessary breathing space. Now the aim is to follow up with a big effort in the Ulster Championship.
Louth will feel the same way about the Leinster Championship after beating Westmeath by 1-15 to 0-13 in the Division Three final. Certainly, no one would begrudge them their success aftger what happened to them against Meath in last year's Leinster decider.
They had to come from a point behind with 10 minutes remaining to win Saturday's night's Division Three final. But the efforts of man-of-the-match Paddy Keenan, Brian Donnelly, and Ronan Carroll saw them home.
Carroll finished as Louth's leading scorer, contributing 1-3. The Division Four title went to another Leinster outfit as Longford saw off Roscommon by 2-11 to 1-8.
Maybe Roscommon's minds were on their opening Connacht Championship match, away to New York on Sunday. Either way, they were very poor for much of this encounter.
Longford were well deserving of their victory, with captain Paul Barden playing a leading role.
