Counihan: We've a lot more work to do
Cork may have breezed past Donegal in yesterday's All-Ireland SFC quarter-final at Croke Park, but manager Conor Counihan has admitted that further improvements will have to be made if they are to maintain their challenge for the Sam Maguire Cup.
With 14 points separating the sides at the finish, there was no doubting that Munster champions Cork were the superior team as they progressed through to an August 23 All-Ireland semi-final clash with Tyrone.
"From Donegal's perspective their challenge was very weak on the day, and I just feel it turned out to be a bit of a mismatch," Counihan said afterwards.
"They have had two very hard games (against Derry and Galway) and they obviously took their toll - to come the road they came and the teams they beat and come and perform like that.
"Unfortunately we didn't learn a whole pile about ourselves. On the down side, we conceded 2-10 and we certainly have a lot more work to do."
Counihan brushed off talk of the Rebels being possible All-Ireland winners based on this display, knowing that his side is far from the finished article.
"We are disappointed with what we conceded and we need to work on that. We have a lot of work to do.
"I think the intensity...we need to maintain it over a longer period. I suppose we got through and that's the most important thing."
However, reflecting on the game, there were still plenty of positives for the Cork management to dwell on, including the fact that 11 players - all six starting forwards, two defenders and three substitutes - got their names on the scoresheet.
"It's a very competitive panel and there are guys there who came on today who would be very close to the team," added Counihan.
"There are guys who didn't come off the bench who would be equally close to the team. We are fortunate enough that there is a lot of competition there."
Meanwhile, Donegal captain Rory Kavanagh was left shellshocked by how his side fell away against Cork after a promising start.
"We thought we were building a nice bit of momentum coming into the game on the back of two good wins," he admitted.
"But everything Cork caught seemed to go over the bar. It was a wee bit demoralising there at half-time, going in at 0-13 to 0-3 behind.
"We kept going and showed a bit of spirit but we were totally outplayed."
Kavanagh insisted that a busy qualifier schedule, which included four games in as many weeks, did not play a part in the Tir Chonaill men's downfall.
"I'm not going to make excuses that we were tired. We thought we were building up a nice head of steam.
"But Cork are a big, mobile side and they started to get a foothold in the middle of the park and we just had no answer to them.
"We kept at it but every time we scored, Cork were going right back upfield and tagging one over themselves."
