Cork justified the tedium of a long trip north by manfully wrestling two useful points from Donegal in Ballybofey yesterday, surviving a grim match which perfectly illustrated the detriments of mid-winter football.

Free-ridden and strewn with untidy errors, the first 30 minutes left the 4,000-strong home crowd with little to shout about, bar the referee, articulating their outrage at a few perceived non-calls by debut referee Michael Convery.

Despite that, the Derry official was far from whistle-shy, ensuring a preponderance of free kicks and a paucity of free-flowing football.

Trailing by two points at halftime, Cork effectively turned the game 15 seconds into the second half, with substitute Joe Kavanagh lobbing a measured pass which Alan O'Regan belted past goalkeeper Tony Blake, to leave matters at 0-7 to 1-5.

Cork had stayed in touch for the first 30 minutes through the deadball accuracy of Padraig O'Mahony and despite hitting a mere three points over the remaining 29 minutes (as did Donegal), they salvaged a win through solid, diligent defensive work.

The lively O'Mahony enhanced the visitors lead by curling over a point from play after 34 minutes but from then on, imagination was thin on the ground.

Donegal, according to manager Declan Bonner "showed no leadership and were constantly running down blind alleys," and, he felt, "did not deserve to win."

Their display lacked the verve and certainty which saw them push Galway to the brink two weeks ago. Again, Brendan Devenney and Brian Roper fronted a fork-tongued attack, with full-forward Barry Ward dropping back behind midfield.

The slippery front pair won frees consistently in the early period, which Jim McGuinness and Devenney converted, but Cork gradually sucked attackers like O'Regan, Kavanagh and Fachtna Collins into defensive roles after the break, denying Donegal space in which to build.

The Cork half-back line showed an industrious bent, conceding just a single point to their charges while Ronan Lynch enjoyed a nomadic afternoon, skirting around midfield with Donegal's Barry Ward.

With James Ruane forced off with an injury at half-time, the home team were out-muscled at midfield as the match wore on. Jim McGuinness was enterprising and willing in open play and accounted for half of Donegal's total through free kicks but found himself overshadowed by Liam Honohan and Nicolas Murphy, who turned a lot of possession Cork's way.

"I thought they were both very good for us, they gave us a bit of an edge", said Larry Tompkins. "It was nice to come in here to the lion's den with a young bunch and come away with the win."

The match might still have swung against the Munster side. Although Devenney converted a Brian Roper free with 15 minutes remaining to leave the scores at 0-9 to 1-7, both sides then lapsed into a protracted period of mediocrity which was broken by the dismissal of Roper.

It was a mixed weekend for the sure-footed attacker. Having arrived in Ballybofey just yesterday morning from Amsterdam, Roper saw a bright afternoon undermined when he was carded by the referee with just five minutes to go, for an apparent off-the-ball incident.

Donegal's misery seemed to be compounded when Honohan fired a quick point after taking a pass from Collins, but for the closing five minutes, Cork retreated as the home side sought to steal the game with a late rush.

McGuinness thumped over a wonderful, acutely-angled 45-metre free with four minutes remaining and then both Brian McLaughlin (free) and Devenney spurned late opportunities to at least force a draw.

In all, this was a forgettable encounter, a dead-ball shoot out in the mud. Points from play didn't feature until the 19th minute, when Honahan jinked into space before landing a score from 40 yards.

Cork: M Maguire; M O'Donovan, R McCarthy, A Lynch; N McCarthy, E Sexton, M Cronin; N Murphy, L Honohan (0-2); B Walsh, P O'Mahony (0- 5, four frees), BJ O'Sullivan; P Clifford, C Crowley, A O'Regan (1-0). Subs: F Collins (0-1) for B Walsh (27 mins); J Kavanagh for BJ O'Sullivan (half-time); M O'Donovan for O Sexton.

Donegal: T Blake; M Crossan, R Sweeney, E Reddan; N McCready, N Hegarty, N McGinley; J Ruane, J McGuinness (0-5, four frees, 45); M Hegarty, A Sweeney, B McLaughlin (0-1); B Roper (0-1), B Ward, B Devenney (0-3, two frees). Subs: J Gildea for J Ruane (inj, half time); S Carr for A Sweeney (43 mins); D Gibson for B Ward (55 mins).

Referee: M Convery, Derry.