Donegal 0-12 Cork 1-08
Five unanswered points at the start of the second half helped Donegal to a precious home win in their Allianz Football League Division 1 clash against Cork.
Despite losing captain Michael Murphy to a second yellow card dismissal after 50 minutes when they were 0-10 to 0-05 ahead, Rory Gallagher's side held on for victory in Ballyshannon.
Tomás Clancy's goal in the 54th minute brought Cork back into the game but points in the last quarter from Colm O'Neill and Brian Hurley weren't enough as Donegal earned their second win of the campaign.
The sides were level at 0-05 apiece after a mediocre, slow-paced first half which was dominated by defensive play.
Donegal led by 0-03 to 0-01 after eight minutes and Cork, who had the wind in the opening period, responded with an O'Neill free and a point from Kevin O'Driscoll.
Michael Murphy drifted out the pitch leaving Paddy McBrearty playing inside alongside Martin O'Reilly. The latter sparkled, kicking three of his four points from play in the first half.
A point from midfielder Mark Collins in the 25th minute brought the Rebels level for the third time in the opening half and it turned out to be the last score of a poor first half.
All Star fullback Neil McGee, a late replacement before the game for his brother Eamon, had a superb game on Colm O'Neill and held him scoreless from play.
However O'Neill was starved of quality, quick ball and it was only when subs Paul Kerrigan, Paddy Kelly and John Hayes were introduced in the second half that Cork began to sparkle.
Donegal's best period was in the third quarter when they reeled off five points in a row in 11 minutes after the interval.
With a strong wind at their backs, Rory Gallagher's side made a flying start to the second half with McBrearty coming to life and hitting two points in that spell.
Michael Murphy used the wind to convert two monster frees, one from off the ground near the sideline around 50 metres out, and the other was a huge 60m effort from his hands.
However the game turned when the skipper was deservedly sent-off for a high tackle with 20 minutes remaining.
Although they were trailing by five points, Cork sensed there was still something in this game for them and Colm O'Neill immediately pointed a free to give them hope.
Odhran MacNiallais landed a '45' for Donegal to regain their five-point cushion at 0-11 to 0-06, before Cork's goal brought them right back into the contest.
A well-worked move up the field was finished by Tomas Clancy, who collected Hurley's pass and palmed the ball into the net. A Hurley point left Cork trailing by 0-11 to 1-07 with 12 minutes remaining.
McBrearty settled Donegal nerves with a 60th minute but another O'Neill free left just a point between the sides with over six minutes to go.
Cork had several opportunities to get the equaliser, Hodnett guilty of missing the best of them, but somehow 14-man Donegal held on for their second home win of the Allianz League campaign.
Donegal: P Durcan; P McGrath, E McGee, E Doherty; F McGlynn, K Lacey, M McHugh, N Gallagher, C Toye (0-01); M O'Reilly (0-04), O MacNiallais (0-01), R McHugh; P McBrearty (0-03, 1f), M Murphy (0-03, 3f), H McFadden
Subs: M McElhinney for McFadden (HT), A Thompson for Lacey (60), C McFadden for Toye (63), E McGee for Doherty (64), J Gibbson for McBrearty (69)
Cork: K O'Halloran; Tom Clancy, M Shields, J Loughrey; J O'Sullivan, E Cadogan, Tomas Clancy (1-0); F Goold, M Collins (0-01); C O'Driscoll, J O'Rourke, K O'Driscoll (0-01); C O'Neill (0-04, 4f), D O'Connor (0-01, f), B Hurley (0-01)
Subs: C Dorman for O'Sullivan (43), P Kerrigan for O'Connor (49), P Kelly for C O'Driscoll (60), J Hayes for K O'Driscoll (61), D Og Hodnett for O'Rourke (65)
Referee: Joe McQuillan (Cavan)
