At the pre-match dinner, Minister for Health Micheβl Martin addressed the room and declared that Foreign Minister Brian Cowan had offered him exotic trips to Paris, London, Canada or New York to spread the word of St Patrick. Instead, the iron-willed minister turned them all down for the vol-au-vents and beef at Cork Con on Saturday.

Few at Temple Hill were surprised and they duly delivered for their esteemed guest by securing a place in the top four and finishing the day crowning division one. But coach Brian Hickey is set on a home draw and that now comes down to Cork Con's final match against Buccaneers.

Hickey saw the match like most others, a first half of sloppy execution from Cork Con, which had them at times a little panicky, and a second half where Terenure failed to score a single point as Con ran in three tries, two of them classic opportunistic touchdowns from left wing Anthony Horgan.

On both occasions - on 53 and 78 minutes - a ball behind the defence set up a race between Horgan and Phillip Costello, the Munster winger getting the bounce and touch each time.

Cork Con won't get overly excited by their display but they will be pleased by the scoreline. "We showed glimpses of things in the first half. A couple of times guys like Anthony (Horgan) and Conor (O'Mahony) could have gone themselves instead of looking for passes that weren't there. The execution wasn't there," said Hickey.

Considerably beefed up with contracted players, the Cork pack produced plenty of decent ball. Mick O'Driscoll was towering in the lineouts and prominent in the loose.

Eric Miller also drilled away for Terenure, but compared to the home side they were lightweight, and with Frankie Sheahan introduced in the second half to join Donncha O'Callaghan and Jim Williams, Con had them under pressure for long spells.

Ronan O'Gara's three penalties kept Cork Con ahead (9-8) for the first quarter. Richie Governey's drop goal for Terenure followed an earlier try, when he side-stepped a first-up tackle to waltz through the Con defence.

Finally, six minutes from half-time, it was full back Derek Dillon who produced the first of Cork Con's four tries, touching down on the left after Horgan did well to keep the ball alive. At 14-8 the break arrived and Terenure's contribution to the scoring ended.

Brothers Cian and Conor O'Mahony were lively in the centre, but the continuity broke down too often for the home side to be truly satisfied. Cian O'Mahony put Horgan through with a deft kick for the second try while Rory Keneally came off the bench to dance down the right, again after inside centre Cian O'Mahony and man of the match, Mick O'Driscoll, contributed to the initial break to spark the move.

Competitively, that was it leaving Horgan to race in for his second touchdown and the important bonus point. "Anthony Horgan is a real poacher's winger," said a pleased Hickey. "That is an aspect of his game that he doesn't get credit for. He is a great opportunist."

Despite being on top of the table Cork Con need to earn more than 49 points in total to be sure of a home semi-final. That 49-point total is the maximum number of points Clontarf can earn with two games remaining. Currently on 48 points Cork Con need at least two points from Buccaneers, who are now out of relegation trouble.

Terenure, on 36 points, need to beat Shannon in their final game and hope several teams above them drop points.

SCORING SEQUENCE: 5 mins: R O'Gara penalty 3-0; 12: R Governey try 3-5; 19: R O'Gara penalty 6-5; 21: R Governey drop goal 6-8; 27: R O'Gara penalty 9-8; 34: D Dillon try 14-8; 44: R O'Gara penalty 17-8; 53: A Horgan try, O'Gara conversion 24-8; 61: O'Gara drop goal 27-8; 76: R Kenneally try, O'Gara conversion 34-8.

CORK CONSTITUTION: D Dillon; J Kelly, Conor Mahony, Cian Mahony, A Horgan; R O'Gara, B O'Meara; I Murray, J Fogarty, J O'Driscoll, D O'Callaghan, M O'Driscoll, J Williams, J Murray, U O'Callaghan. Replacements: F Sheahan for Fogarty (50 mins); R Kenneally for Kelly (69); R McGrath for Murray (71); A O'Sullivan for O'Meara (76); J Sheehan for J Murray (77).

TERENURE: S Cullen; P Costello, M Smyth, D mcInerney, S king; R Governey, K Putt; D Blayney, B Kavanagh, E Miller, D Quinn, M Quinn, S Barretto, C Egan, J Nolan. Replacements: D Mahony for Putt (62); M O'Kelly for McInerney (69); G Blayney for Egan (76); A O'Sullivan for D Blayney (77); G Deans for Barretto (78).

Referee: A Lewis (Leinster).