Cork effectively sealed their place in Division 1 of the NFL for another year after they withstood a late Galway rally to make it three wins from three in Pairc Ui Rinn last night.

Cork 1-19
Galway 1-17

The Rebels looked set for a comfortable victory when they led by nine points early in the second half, but Galway came storming back and had reduced the deficit to just three with seven minutes remaining after substitute Gary Sice found the net. The home side were rattled, but late points from Donncha O'Connor and Patrick Kelly helped them over the line.

Picking up from where they left off against Kerry three weeks ago, Conor Counihan's side played some outstanding football in the first half to lead by 1-10 to 0-6 at the break - their goal coming from Pearse O'Neill after a well-worked move.

The Tribesmen had a mountain to climb in the second half, but with Nicky Joyce and Michael Meehan scoring 0-13 between them, the home side were left hanging on for the win.

Scorers - Cork: P O'Neill 1-2, C O'Neill (0-3f), D O'Connor 0-4 each, P Kelly 0-3 (0-2f), P O'Flynn, D Goulding, 0-2 each, P Kerrigan, P Kissane 0-1. Galway: N Joyce 0-7 (0-5f), M Meehan 0-6 (0-3f), G Sice 1-0, S Armstrong (0-1 '45), C de Paor, D Reilly, D Cummins 0-1 each.

Cork: K O'Halloran; R Carey, M Shields, E Cotter; P Kissane, G Spillane, N O'Leary; A O'Connor, P O'Neill; P O'Flynn, D O'Connor, P Kelly; D Goulding, C O'Neill, P Kerrigan. Subs: J Hayes for O'Flynn (47), C O'Driscoll for O'Leary (57), F Goold for A O'Connor (69), J Masters for C O'Neill (70).

Galway: E O Conghaile; D O'Neill, F Hanley, D Burke; G O'Donnell, D Blake, D Reilly; B Cullinane, P Conroy; C Healy, S Armstrong, D Dunleavy; M Meehan, J Bergin, N Joyce. Subs: C de Paor for Armstrong (11), G Sice for Dunleavy (41), M Clancy for Healy (44), D Cummins for Joyce (65).

Referee: M Condon (Waterford). Tweet

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