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The Irish Sun

Paddy Small stars as Dublin down Cork gears to reach All-Ireland SFC quarter-final

DESSIE Farrell says it's 'foot on the throttle' time now after steering Dublin through to the Championship's last eight. Advertisement 2 Dublin came good with a strong finish to see off Cork to seal a spot in the quarters 2 Paddy Smalls was man of the match in the win over Cork on Saturday They played in 'fits and starts', as boss Farrell said, and chugged along at times like a side powered by dirty petrol. With no Con O'Callaghan, it was left to Paddy Small to provide the inspiration and he took the Man of the Match award. Ballymun man Small blasted four points while free-taker Cormac Costello and the ultra reliable Sean Bugler split 10 points evenly between them. John Small was excellent at centre-back in just his third start of the season too, scoring a point and setting one up for sibling Paddy. Advertisement READ MORE ON GAA But it was more Renault than Rolls Royce overall and Farrell will be hoping that's the end of the misfiring with an All-Ireland quarter-final to come. That's the stage that Dublin bowed out of last year's Championship at, to Galway, and Farrell is desperate to drive on. He said: "It's foot on the throttle time now at this stage of the season and senior players come into their own. Everyone ups their game at this time of the year and it's a great learning environment for our young fellas to be operating in. "To be fair, I think the senior lads are loving the energy that they're bringing and the enthusiasm they're bringing as well. Advertisement Most read in GAA Football Exclusive "But we all know ourselves, we're far from the finished article. There's so much more room for improvement in our performance. "But I still think there's more potential within us to be realised and that's the challenge for us between now and next weekend, seeing can we tap into that." 'Just in time for Father's Day' - Dublin GAA legends welcome the birth of precious baby daughter Dublin trailed at half-time and were still a point back with 15 minutes to go despite a terrific Brian Howard goal in the 45th minute. But a Cork side that has stuttered and stumbled through another season under John Cleary couldn't sustain that effort. Advertisement Full-forward trio Chris Og Jones, Mark Cronin and Brian Hurley notched 1-10 between them for the Rebels. But when the finishing line was in sight, Dublin motored towards it and pinched four of the game's last five points. Farrell said: "It wasn't a classic performance by any stretch but it was one where we needed to show a bit of character and dig deep - and thankfully the lads did that." Farrell reckoned Dublin were 'naive' when they failed to build on their bright start, having hit the game's first four points. Advertisement They only added three more points before Bugler lofted over a two-pointer in almost the last play of the first-half. Cork were far more efficient and seemed to rise to the occasion, just like they did against Kerry in the Munster championship. They led 1-8 to 0-9 at half-time and really turned it on in a period between the ninth and 16th minutes when they reeled off 1-3 without response. Jones blasted the goal, finishing a well worked move off a sideline kick under the Hogan Stand and shooting low across Stephen Cluxton. Advertisement Jones finished with 1-4 and showed plenty of class but Cork have put in too many middle-of-the-performances this year to really trust them to finish the job. They did at least push Dublin all the way and refused to relent even when Howard slammed in his goal. Howard spun away from Sean McDonnell too easily, although his finish high into the corner of Micheal Aodh Martin's goal had a Lamborghini stamp of class about it. Cork could have tossed in the towel but reeled off four points in a row to briefly lead again. Advertisement O'Callaghan's quality, and calmness, was missed in the Dublin attack. They got some punch at least from sub Luke Breathnach who pinched a point and their experienced performers stood up as well. Costello, Paddy Small and Bugler all weighed in with hugely important scores late on as Dublin turned the screw. Dublin 1-19 Cork 1-16 Dublin: S Cluxton; E Murchan, S MacMahon, D Byrne; B Howard 1-0, J Small 0-1, L Gannon 0-1; P O Cofaigh Byrne, C Kilkenny 0-1; K McGinnis, N Scully 0-1, S Bugler 0-5, 1 tp; P Small 0-4, L O'Dell, C Costello 0-5, 2f. Advertisement Subs: C Murphy for O'Dell 45, L Breathnach 0-1 for McGinnis 57, T Lahiff for Gannon 59, N Doran for Scully 68. Cork: MA Martin 0-1, 1 45; D O'Mahony, M Shanley, N Lordan; B O'Driscoll, S Brady, M Taylor; I Maguire 0-1, C O'Callaghan 0-2; P Walsh, S Walsh 0-1, S McDonnell; B Hurley 0-2, M Cronin 0-4, 2f, C Og Jones 1-4. Subs: E McSweeney for P Walsh 48, C Cahalane for McDonnell 49-58 blood, C O'Mahony 0-1 for Hurley 55, S Powter for Taylor 58, L Fahy for Lordan 63. Ref: S Hurson (Tyrone). Advertisement