Cork manager John Cleary credited his players for their “brave” performance that saw them getting over the line against Donegal in Ballybofey yesterday.

Having trailed by seven points after Conor O’Donnell’s 25th minute goal, the Rebels tore up the script against the Division 1 champions and, in the end, it was late two-pointers from Luke Fahy, Tommy Walsh and the superb Steven Sherlock (0-9) that saw them towards a 0-17 to 1-13 win and into the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals.

Speaking to RTE Sport afterwards, Cleary said he felt that his side deserved the victory.

 "When the draw was made, we knew it was going to be difficult coming up here," he stated.

"But we felt that our second-half against Meath was as good as anyone who played in the country this year. And we felt then that maybe Donegal might be a slight bit off guard after their performance in Killarney.

"It's very hard to keep rolling on performances, one after the other. We came with a plan, we were disappointed slightly the way we played the first half - and we were still only five points down."

He added: “We deserve to win because I think we were brave. We didn't defend the lead. We kept going, and just about got over the line in the end."

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