NFL Division Two: Louth 1-12 Cork 1-17
A miraculously dry pitch in Drogheda, balmy February air too, and still Louth could not find much home bounce. By the time the game ended in bright afternoon sunshine they were chasing Cork shadows.
An early indicator perhaps in escaping the bear pit of Division Two. Both teams enjoyed winning starts last weekend, but here things turned positively one-sided by half-time. Louth scored 1-2 at the death, only that did nothing to lift the mood among their home support.
If anything, the long journey for Cork appeared to whit their appetite, John Cleary’s team hungry from the start and hardly letting up. They finished with seven different scorers, the excellent Steven Sherlock leading the way.
By the time Chris Óg Jones scored a close-range goal on 20 minutes, they’d already established their superiority over Louth on the scoreboard; 1-5 to 0-3. From then on, they gradually extended that superiority in every sense, creating more space, more options, ultimately showing more endurance too.
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Louth briefly rallied after the Cork goal, thanks to All Star duo of Craig Lennon and Sam Mulroy, before Cork closed out the half with a double whammy of two-pointers. Brian Hurley took the first of them from play, that one gifted from a misjudged Louth kickout, before Sherlock closed out the half with another two-pointer.
Trailing 1-10 to 0-5, Louth seemed to find some bounce at the start of the second half, getting it back to a five-point game on 50 minutes, replacement Tadhg McDonnell scoring one of their best points from the outside of his boot.
With Sherlock a model of accuracy (Louth finished with 12 wides), Cork could afford to ease up well before the end. Maybe Louth sensed that, Ciaran Downey adding a two-point in injury time, before a searching ball by full back Dermot Campbell slipped through the hands of several players in front of the Cork goal, dropping into the net.
In truth, Louth displayed little of the dazzle and determination displayed when winning the Leinster title last summer. Their few goal chances were too easily fluffed, and despite the fine conditions, their shooting was way off in the first half. Too many attacks fizzled out like a damp firework.
No wonder Cork manager John Cleary was well satisfied with the result, Cork’s first back-to-back wins in the opening rounds since 2020. Mark Cronin and Sean McDonnell each added two points from play, Colm O’Callaghan and Sean Walsh displaying plenty of physicality around midfield.
“We came up here wanting a good performance, and I thought we controlled the game for nearly all the time,” said Cleary. “We’d a couple of goal chances butchered again, but any time Louth looked like coming back at us, we steadied the ship, won a lot of breaks. We addressed that during the week, in these tight games you have to be winning the breaks.”
“Louth have had some very good comebacks before, we knew even at half-time they could be completely back in it. Look, they got a goal and a two-pointer in injury time, that’s the one disappointment, but we’re delighted going home tonight with the two points.”
Gavin Devlin did not disguise his disappointments, the Louth manager in his first full season in charge. Tyrone’s former All-Ireland winner also knows well the challenges in maintaining progress from his previous involvement with Louth, even if this result appeared to mark a step back.
He’ll be glad of the two-week breather, with Meath, who they beat in last year’s Leinster final, up next.
“We started pretty well, but our efficiency really cost us,” said Devlin. “In the new game, we hit 12 wides, six balls dropping short, it’s so unlike us. Cork have to take some credit for that.
“But once Cork got that lead, we started reacting to that lead. Doing things most unlike us, forcing things, and got some negative energy from that.
“But that’s the journey we’re on, anyone who thought this would be pain free is completely deluded. Division Two is too tight, peaks and troughs all the way through. This result it over, we’ve two weeks now to the Meath game. So we just have to dust ourselves down, go again. That’s the name of the game.”
Cleary also emptied his Cork bench, Ian Maguire appearing originally as blood replacement for Sean Walsh, and there is unquestionable a depth to his panel. McDonnell was highly influential in the forward line, Luke Fahy and Tommy Walsh also scoring points from defence.
Cork also got the better of Louth last year, with room to spare. Sherlock’s fine form, continuing from his scoring spree with his club St Finbarr’s, adds another option, although Cleary is not getting ahead of things either.
“All these games are pressure games,” added Cleary. “Particularly a long journey up here, against the Leinster champions. Every two points is hard fought. It doesn’t get any easier, a break now, but a long way to go yet.”
LOUTH: T Markey; P Tinnelly, D Campbell (1-0-0), D McKenny; E Callaghan, P Lynch, C Lennon (0-0-1); D McDonnell, C Early; P Matthews, S Mulroy, capt (0-0-6, 3f, 1 45), C Grimes (0-0-1); C Keenan, C Downey (0-1-1), R Burns. Subs: T McDonnell (0-0-1) for Callaghan (half time), S Callaghan for Mathews (45 mins), D Nally for Grimes (55 mins), C McCaul for Keenan (58 mins), S Reynolds for Early (64 mins).
CORK: P Doyle; M Shanley, D O’Mahony (capt), T Walsh (0-0-1); B O’Driscoll, M Taylor, L Fahy (0-0-1); Colm O’Callaghan, S Walsh; P Walsh, S McDonnell (0-0-2), S Sherlock (0-1-6, 1 2pf, 4f, 1 45); M Cronin (0-0-2), B Hurley (0-1-0), C Og Jones (1-0-1). Subs: R Maguire for Taylor (46 mins), R Deane for Walsh (54 mins), I Maguire for O’Callaghan (49 mins, BS permanent), D Sheedy for Cronin (58 mins), C Daly for Hurley (68 mins), J O’Driscoll for O’Driscoll (69 mins).
Referee: Anthony Nolan (Wicklow).
