SHC QUALIFIERS - Cork 1-17 Dublin 0-15:ETERNAL SPRINGS the hope. What had otherwise been the worst championship season in recent memory for Dublin hurling at all levels, closed on Saturday with a defeat by the Lee which suggested the county mightn't be so far away after all.
The measure of how far away Dublin still are though was the grim-faced Cork response to having prevailed by a mere five points with a listless performance.
The theme tunes being tooted afterwards suggested Cork will have to hurl with a lot more of everything good if they aren't to be cast into crisis soon.
And Dublin, are perhaps a couple more scoring forwards and a little bit of know-how away from the next level.
Cork will survey the evening's events and conclude that they were never out on the ledge clinging on white-knuckled. Dublin will know they lacked the craft to score the second-half goal which would have set the game jangling. The closest they came was a stinging shot the excellent Ross O'Carroll which prompted a sublime save from Donal Óg Cusack.
O'Carroll, with a brother on this under-21s and another on this year's minors, is part of a wave (at home even) which could be the salvation of Dublin hurling. He took three points from play and looked nerveless on Saturday and when Dublin look around a starting forward unit which, apart from O'Carroll and the ever excellent Dotsie O'Callaghan, failed to score from play the case for giving the next line of precocious young talents a shot is strengthened.
Cork may have been flat but five of the starting forwards scored. The sort of spread serious teams need from their shooters.
Dublin started well hanging onto Cork's coat-tails as the home side hurled with the assistance of a decent evening breeze.
As it was their success lay in never quite losing touch with Cork but their downfall lay in a few moments of carelessness to which emerging sides are prone. Most wounding of these was the goal surrendered after 45 minutes when trailing by just two points.
Goalkeeper Gary Maguire's bundled clearing pass fell to Joe Deane. Otherwise fairly subdued by Niall Corcoran, Deane scooted in and deposited the ball in the Dublin net. Dublin played well for the next quarter of an hour or so but they had given Cork the tonic of renewed confidence.
In the wake of the goal, Dublin shuffled the decks. Of the new arrivals, Paul Ryan, the young Ballyboden player, made sufficient impression with two points to make Dublin regret that he hadn't started. Dublin with Ronan Fallon, Stephen Hiney and Joey Boland providing a sturdy half back platform continued to stay in the sort of proximity which meant that a goal would make for a helter-skelter finish.
The crowd of just over 12,000 was double what had been expected but Cork looked like a side who had their minds on other more pressing occasions when they might need to find more gears. If they don't find them next weekend their summer will end a week after Dublin's.
CORK:D Óg Cusack; S O'Neill, D O'Sullivan, B Murphy; E Cadogan (0-1), J Gardiner (0-1, a free), K McGann; T Kenny (0-2), J O'Connor (0-2); B O'Connor(0-2 , one free), N McCarthy (0-1), T McCarthy; C Naughton (0-3), N Ronan (0-2 , one free), J Deane (1-1). Subs: K Hartnett for Cadogan (51 mins), P Cronin (0-1) for T McCarthy (51 mins), R Curran for McGann (60 mins), P Horgan (0-1) for B O'Connor 65mins.
DUBLIN:G Maguire; N Corcoran, K Ryan, T Brady; S Hiney, R Fallon, J Boland; J McCaffrey, S Lambert; J Burke, D O'Dwyer, D Qualter, D O'Callaghan (0-10, three frees), K Flynn, R O Carroll (0-3) Subs: P O'Driscoll for Flynn (44 mins), P Ryan (0-2) for Burke (49 mins), P Bergin for Ryan (50 mins), J Kelly for D O'Dwyer (56 mins), P Kelly for McCaffrey (63 mins).
Referee:J Owens (Wexford).
