GAA All-Ireland SFC Quarter-Final

GAA All-Ireland SFC Quarter-Final
Group 2 Phase 2

Cork vs Tyrone
Croke Park, 5pm.

Highly competitive for an hour against Dublin, Cork were eventually flattened by a flurry of late goals. Still Rónán McCarthy's left GAA headquarters with plenty of reasons to be encouraged and will return to the Jones Road venue eager to examine Tyrone's credentials. The challenge will be different against Mickey Harte's outfit, who posted a most satisfactory success at Dr Hyde Park. Roscommon were primed for a battle, but Tyrone had the guile to survive with Niall Sludden mining three points from play, while Cathal McShane maintained his effective form inside. McShane's positioning at full forward provides Tyrone with a strong presence in the scoring zone so Cork will need to restrict his influence. Cork poured forward throughout last weekend's tussle against Dublin ensuring Brian Hurley, Mark Collins, Luke Connolly, and Paul Kerrigan were well supported up front. In 2018 Cork suffered a crushing Round Four Qualifier loss to Tyrone, but it should be a much tighter affair on this occasion.

Dublin vs Roscommon
Croke Park, 7pm.

These are exciting times for Dublin with last weekend providing a win over Cork before news filtered through about Diarmuid Connolly's return to training. It made for a successful weekend so Jim Gavin will now want to secure Dublin's passage into the last four ahead of an impending trip to Healy Park. Cork made life difficult for Dublin, but the standard bearers still found a way to survive before finishing with a flourish. There was so much to admire about Dublin's display – Stephen Cluxton assured goalkeeping, Jack McCaffrey's blistering raids from deep, Brian Fenton's relevance, Con O'Callaghan's dash, and Ciarán Kilkenny's enduring excellence. Undoubtedly Dublin still remain the team to beat, but they will treat Roscommon with the utmost care and respect. Roscommon were fended off by Tyrone at Dr Hyde Park, but Anthony Cunningham's outfit summoned a brave performance. The locals just weren't clinical enough converting chances with Tyrone sufficiently savvy to exploit any uncertainty at the opposite end.