Cork legend Billy Morgan believes the Rebels will dominate the football landscape over the next few years if they can beat either Down or Kildare in next month's All-Ireland final.

The former All-Ireland winning goalkeeper and manager feels last Sunday's narrow win could prove a turning point in the county's recent history.

"If they'd lost on Sunday I think it would have been the end of the road for the team. Now if they can win the final the shackles will be off and they can dominate football for a few years. This could be the springboard," he said in the Irish Times.

Morgan says Cork now find themselves in a similar position to 1989 when they also defeated Dublin in the All-Ireland semi-final.

"I'd say it's very similar. Sunday was so difficult because playing Dublin in a semi-final in Croke Park is never going to be easy especially when the expectation has become that Cork should be winning an All-Ireland handy at this stage.

"In '89 we hadn't won for 16 years; now it's 20 years since the last. Expectations bring pressure.

"When we got over Dublin in '89 we were confidently expected to beat Mayo or Tyrone. We ended up struggling in the final. The challenge is to put favouritism behind you. Favourites and underdogs are just imposters. You focus on your own game."

After losing two of the last three All-Ireland finals to Kerry, Morgan accepts that is all about getting over the finishing line this year.

"They probably haven't got much credit for that because they haven't been playing well," he continued.

"Limerick took them to extra-time and had momentum but Cork raised their game enough to get through. Even against Roscommon in the quarter-final they had to up their game and obviously again on Sunday.

"Playing well or not they have been able to eke out a win. You see it in other sports, with Man United, not playing well but managing to get a goal before the end. Winning is a habit. Sunday was all about winning rather than performance." Tweet

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