Cork 0-20
Derry 2-10

Colm O'Neill struck 0-11 as Cork finished strongly at Celtic Park this afternoon to condemn Derry to their fourth defeat in Division 2.

O'Neill and Paul Kerrigan were in fine form for Peader Healey's charges, combining for 0-17 over the 70 minutes, and they needed to be as a goal in each half from Danny Tallon kept the Oak Leafers in contention throughout.

Tallon's first major left Damian Barton's men only trailing by one at half, after chasing the game for much of the opening 35 minutes, and O'Neill helped the Rebels make a strong restart. Despite the winners shipping another three-pointer to Tallon in the 52nd minute they were able to finish with a flourish with O'Neill registering his eleventh of the afternoon late on.

The win sees Cork's status practically secured while their opponents now look the favoruites to be headed for Division Three next year.

In his first start of the season for Derry, Chrissy McKaigue got them off the mark two minutes in but it was the visitors that had enjoyed the better start, as O'Neill struck a brace of points (one a free) to send his side towards a 0-4 to 0-2 lead after Tallon had struck one at the other end.

McKaigue grabbed his second point on 13 minutes before Kerrigan and O'Neill raised more white flags for the Rebels to keep them in control.

Derry got a let off on the 20-minute mark when Peter Kelleher rattled their crossbar and the hosts drove forward from that break to earn a free which Benny Heron tapped over.

Kerrigan restored the Leesiders' two-point advantage and a bad injury to Jason Rocks would see a lengthy delay in the game ensue as the former Derry U21 captain was replaced by Ciaran Mullan.

That halt to proceedings meant 11 minutes of injury-time were added on and eight minutes in a well-worked goal from Tallon gave back the lead to the Oak Leafers.

A Mark Collins point was the immediate response and tied things up before Cork edged in front again with a pair of points and Heron (free) eventually closed the half at 0-10 to 1-6.

O'Neill and Kerrigan continued to torment the home side, posting three points in the opening stages of the restart, as Neil Forrester kept the trailers in touch.

Enda Lynn and O'Neill (45) traded scores as Damian Barton introduced Mark Lynch for the first time since picking up a knee injury in the opening round against Clare.

It seemed to pay dividends for Barton as his side had the ball in Cork's net soon afterwards, with Tallon again providing the finish, squaring the sides with 18 minutes left on the clock.

Cork recovered from that blow brilliantly, notching points through Barry O'Driscoll, Kerrigan and O'Neill (free) to quickly restore their advantage and leave the hosts in sore need of their third goal in its latter stages.

A Lynch free was all Derry could muster late on, as the Rebels closed out the win for two valuable points while plunging their counterparts closer towards the drop.

Cork - K O'Halloran; M Shields, Tom Clancy, K Crowley; Tomas Clancy, J Loughrey, S Cronin; I Maguire, R Deane; J O'Rourke (0-1), M Collins (0-2, 1f), K O'Driscoll; C O'Neill (0-11, 7f, 3'45), P Kelleher, P Kerrigan (0-5). Subs: C O'Driscoll for Tomas Clancy, D O'Connor for P Kelleher, Barry O'Driscoll (0-1) for J O'Rourke, D Og Hodnett for M Collins, C Dorman for M Shields, J McLoughlin for S Cronin.

Derry - T Mallon; J Rocks, B Rogers, N Keenan; N Forester (0-1), C McKaigue (0-2), M Craig; C McWilliams, P Cassidy; E Lynn (0-2), E McGuckin, C McAtamney; D Tallon (2-1), N Loughlin (0-1), B Heron (0-2f). Subs: C Mullan for J Rocks, M McEvoy for C Mullan, D Heavron for M Craig, M Lynch (0-1f) for E McGuckin.

Referee - M Duffy.

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