Dublin 1-13 Cork 0-7:Afterwards on Saturday evening, when Dublin had ended Cork's brief league revival in emphatic fashion, a Dublin selector joked that the sword of Damocles had been put back in its scabbard.
Damocles was an excessively flattering courtier who swapped places one day with Dionysius only to notice a sharpened sword hanging by a single horsehair above the throne.
Pillar Caffrey wouldn't describe the courtesans of the fourth estate as in any way being excessively flattering to him, but few of us would swap places to sit on his throne. Dublin turned in a fine performance on Saturday and whatever peril Caffrey was in vanished.
Yet, the quality of this display can only have added to the Dublin manager's frustrations. On this form, playing with this zest and determination, Dublin are entitled to prohibitively short odds come the summer. The challenge is to get it out of themselves regularly.
Such was the gulf in class between the two teams that when Dublin went a clear eight points ahead (without Cork even scoring) there was never even a whisper among the Parnell Park faithful that this is usually the position at which Dublin are most vulnerable.
In that period, the Dublin bench may have decided that they have seen enough experimentation for this year.
The recalled stalwarts Jason Sherlock and Ciarán Whelan were sublime, Sherlock playing mesmerizing football in the 23 minutes he enjoyed on the field before leaving with a hamstring injury. Ger Spillane was relieved to see Sherlock depart and significantly Dublin's scoring for the half ended when Sherlock left.
Dublin had started without Alan Brogan, but scarcely missed him as Mossy Quinn matched Sherlock's contribution with a display of fluent confidence and Conal Keaney re-emerged from a form slump with a busy display.
Cork, with Billy Morgan banished to the stands had more troubles than the scoreline suggests. With Dublin down to cruising altitude, Cork were permitted to score the four final points of the game, but at no stage did they threaten to continue a sequence of success over Dublin which stretches back to the turn of the century.
Apart from Anthony Lynch, who battled with customary zeal, Cork were disappointing in every sector. Dublin dominated at midfield while the home defence made the Cork forwards look as predictable as death and taxes.
In that respect, the Dublin dressingroom was cautiously pleased with the performance of Ross McConnell at full back. The big former Sigerson winning midfielder coped well with Cork's limited threat in front of goal and only looked in any trouble when another colleges star, Michael Cussen of UCC, arrived in to dwarf him.
Cussen the latest and largest in what we presume will be a slew of Kieran Donaghy imitators has the size to make the módh díreach worth pursuing as an serious option for Cork.
Having gone eight points down, Cork rallied briefly with the threat of the half-time team-talk looming. Cluxton was required to make good saves twice from Kevin O'Sullivan and once from Anthony Lynch, while James Masters also claimed a point to leave the gap at six points during the break.
Dublin came out and scored the first four points of the second half and the game was over.
Cork's cause was helped midway through the half by the award of a dubious penalty after Cussen seemed to be gently impeded. Donncha O'Connor slotted his kick wide, however.
After that we drifted towards a conclusion which had been inevitable since near the start.
In the constantly shifting sands of Division One A the win gives Dublin the possibility of securing a top-four spot. And a guarantee of first division football next year. Cork start this week with the shadow of a precariously dangling sword above their heads.
DUBLIN - S Cluxton; P Griffin, R McConnell, D Henry (0-1); B Cahill, B Cullen, G Brennan; D Magee, C Whelan; C Moran (0-1), J Sherlock (0-1), B Brogan; C Keaney (1-4, 0-2 from frees), K Bonner, T Quinn (0-5, one free). Subs: D Connolly (0-1) for Sherlock (23 mins); S Ryan for Brogan (58); P Casey for Brennan (63); J Magee for K Bonner (67); C Goggins for Cahill (69).
CORK: P O'Shea; E Sexton, M Shields, K O'Connor; N O'Leary, G Spillane, A Lynch (0-1); D Kavanagh, D Hurley; S O'Brien, N Murphy (0-1), D Goulding; J Masters (0-1), D O'Connor (0-1), K O'Sullivan (0-1, free). Subs: A O'Connor for Goulding (19 mins); M Cussen (0-1)for Hurley (53); M Prout for Shields (55); S Levis for Lynch, C McCarthy (0-1) for Kavanagh (both 65).
Referee: M Duffy (Sligo).
