CORK will face an away preliminary quarter-final next weekend in the All-Ireland senior football championship.
Top of Group 3 before a ball was kicked today, the Rebels’ four-point loss to Tyrone, 1-18 to 0-17, in Tullamore coupled with Donegal's 2-23 to 0-5 rout of Clare means Donegal top the group, with Tyrone second and Cork in third.
Cork will discover their next opponents when the draw is made on Monday morning, and it’s a short turnaround before John Cleary’s side face a must-win preliminary quarter-final against a second placed team from another group.
Cork had led 0-10 to 0-9 at the break with Steven Sherlock, Mark Cronin and Chris Óg Jones spearheading a Rebels team missing the injured Brian Hurley.
A missed Paul Walsh goal chance and a Chris Óg Jones black card preceded Ben Cullen's 48th minute goal that was key for Tyrone. With Darragh Canavan and Darren McCurry adding points, soon the lead swelled to five and Cork were playing a game of catch-up they didn’t win.
Not even a Conn Kilpatrick could knock Tyrone off track, and Cork must regroup fast for next weekend.
Scorers - Tyrone: Darragh Canavan 0-5 (1f); Niall Morgan 0-3 (1f, 1 45); Ben Cullen 1-0, Darren McCurry 0-3 (1f); Ruairi Canavan 0-2; Conn Kilpatrick, Sean O'Donnell, Michael O'Neill, Niall Devlin, Michael McKernan 0-1 each. Cork: Steven Sherlock 0-8 (6f); Mark Cronin 0-4 (2f); Chris Óg Jones 0-3; Brian O'Driscoll 0-2.
Cork: Christopher Kelly; Kevin Flahive, Daniel O'Mahony, Tommy Walsh; Maurice Shanley, Rory Maguire, Matty Taylor; Ian Maguire, Colm O'Callaghan; Sean Powter, Paul Walsh, Brian O'Driscoll; Mark Cronin, Steven Sherlock, Chris Og Jones.
Subs: Ruairi Deane for Powter (49), Conor Corbett for Walsh (54), Sean Meehan for Flahive (66), Cathail O'Mahony for Cronin (68), Killian O'Hanlon for O'Driscoll (70).
Tyrone: Niall Morgan; Niall Devlin, Padraig Hampsey, Michael McKernan; Ben Cullen, Mattie Donnelly, Aidan Clarke; Brian Kennedy, Conn Kilpatrick; Ciaran Daly, Ruairi Canavan, Michael O'Neill; Darren McCurry, Darragh Canavan, Sean O'Donnell.
Subs: Peter Harte for O'Neill (ht), Cathal McShane for Ruairi Canavan (64), Shea O'Hare for O'Donnell (68), Cormac Quinn for Cullen (69), Tiernan Quinn for Darragh Canavan (73).
Referee: Paddy Neilan (Roscommon).
