Cork unchanged for Dublin test

Cork are poised to line out with an unchanged team when they meet Dublin in Saturday night's much-anticipated All-Ireland SFC quarter-final at Croke Park (throw-in 7pm).

Cork unchanged for Dublin test

Cork are poised to line out with an unchanged team when they meet Dublin in Saturday night's much-anticipated All-Ireland SFC quarter-final at Croke Park (throw-in 7pm).

Manager Conor Counihan is no stranger to making late changes before the throw-in, but the Rebels did start as selected in their qualifier win over Galway last weekend and Counihan has kept faith with the same 15 players.

That means the experienced quintet of Noel O'Leary, Paudie Kissane, Fintan Goold, Paul Kerrigan and Donncha O'Connor, who were all dropped for the Galway game, have been kept in reserve once again.

Counihan's charges needed a scoring burst of 1-4 in the last 10 minutes to overcome Galway, with Kerrigan, Kissane, O'Connor, Paddy Kelly and Jamie O'Sullivan all seeing action off the bench.

Aidan Walsh, the scorer of a crucial 65th minute goal last time out, continues to lead the attack from centre forward with Daniel Goulding, Ciaran Sheehan and Brian Hurley, who shot 0-9 between them against the Tribesmen, retained in the full-forward line.

Cork almost paid for a sluggish start against Galway and defender Michael Shields know they can ill-afford to let the Leinster champions and All-Ireland favourites get an early advantage on them this weekend.

"It's something, even in the last three or four years, that we've done. It hasn't improved this year which is a bad thing," Shields noted in the Irish Examiner.

"But all you can do is work on it in training and talk about it. That's something we would like to do the next day, get a good start.

"The bad starts we've had have been a common occurrence. If we can eradicate that and concentrate a bit more and get consistency, I think we'll be in with a shout of most games."

Running the rule over the Dublin attack, the 2009 and 2010 All-Star full-back added: "You have a lot of younger players there. You have (Paul) Mannion, you have (Paddy) Andrews who has come back into the team. There is a nice spread, Diarmuid Connolly wasn't there that year (in the 2010 All-Ireland semi-final), so he's another addition.

"Paul Flynn, I think, that day was on the bench, he's another man whose flying it. He has two All-Stars in the last two years.

"There are four or five players I've named there that weren't in the team back then. And obviously you've Bernard Brogan, who is their talisman."

CORK (SFC v Dublin): Alan Quirke; Eoin Cadogan, Michael Shields, Thomas Clancy (Clonakilty); Damien Cahalane, Graham Canty, James Loughrey; Alan O'Connor, Pearse O'Neill; Mark Collins, Aidan Walsh, John O'Rourke; Daniel Goulding, Ciaran Sheehan, Brian Hurley.

Subs: Ken O'Halloran, John McLoughlin, Tomás Clancy (Fermoy), Noel O'Leary, Jamie O'Sullivan, Paudie Kissane, Andrew O'Sullivan, Fintan Goold, Paddy Kelly, Paul Kerrigan, Donncha O'Connor.

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