Louth 2-9
Cork 0-13
PAUL KEANE REPORTS
JOHN Cleary is preparing for the defining part of Cork's Allianz Football League campaign with three games on consecutive weekends set to establish at which end of the table they contend at.
A promotion push may seem unlikely following back to back defeats, the latest coming in Louth last weekend. Failing to score again after going a point up following a Chris Óg Jones score in the 56th minute ultimately cost Cork as Louth finished with three scores in a row to win in Ardee for the second season running.
All is not lost for Cork, however, with five games still to go, three of which are at home. Manager Cleary said he was satisfied with the performance which was significantly improved on the opening round display against Donegal. Even opposing Louth manager Ger Brennan acknowledged that Cork, who failed to convert a series of goal chances, 'will rue the number of chances they missed' and ultimately needed to be 'more clinical'.
Cork began last year's campaign with just one win from three matches yet finished with seven points on the board so with a little tweaking they can become upwardly mobile again. Crucially, after two lengthy road trips, they will have a home game at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday week against Cavan.
‘We go into three games in a row now and that will define our season probably, our league season anyway,’ said Cleary. ‘We're going to be at home to Cavan, away to Fermanagh and at home to Kildare so we will reassess then after that. We have a hill to climb but all we can do is go back to the drawing board and go at it again.
‘When we saw the fixtures, we knew it was going to be difficult and that's the way it is. But you'll see that other teams will take points off each other, particularly around the mid table. Fermanagh beat Kildare and Armagh beat Meath also in the last round so, look, we need to get into that dogfight in the middle of the table. Right now, Cavan is all we're looking at.’
Cork dominated Louth for extended spells despite the wild conditions with a strong breeze blowing down the field and aiding the visitors in the opening half. They finished the game with a mere 44 percent conversion rate from 29 attempts, however, and one passage of play in the third quarter summed up their difficulties with turning possession into points. Cork must have retained the ball for at least three minutes as they attempted to penetrate a packed Louth defence before Ruairi Deane eventually won a free. It was within scoring distance for Brian Hurley but he scuffed his kick which dropped well short. Leading by 0-9 to 0-4 at half-time they ultimately could only add on four more points after that despite laying siege to the Louth goal late on.
‘The result is disappointing but I thought the performance was quite good, we controlled the game for long periods,’ said Cleary. ‘It was just on the day they got the goals and we didn't. Overall, look, I wasn't that disappointed with the display. It was a way ahead of what we had the previous weekend.
‘After three games last year we just had two points as well. We picked it up then. We'll be looking to pick it up again now. I thought we got a reaction from the previous week, definitely. It was our aim to get the points but we didn't, we were beaten by a good Louth team. It's a difficult place to come to. So we're disappointed but we're not overly disappointed with the performance because we asked fellas to leave it all out there.’
Cleary has used 22 players in the league so far, Rory Maguire and Blake Murphy the latest. Daniel O'Mahony was a late addition to the team against Louth and man-marked Sam Mulroy, holding the Louth dangerman and captain scoreless from play. Hurley, despite being black carded in the sixth minute, scored three early points as Cork surged 0-7 to 0-4 clear. But 22nd and 24th minute Louth goals from Ciaran Downey and Ciaran Keenan, both coming after the defence was cut open, were killer blows.
Cork needed at least a goal in response but while they carved out several decent chances over the 70 minutes or so, Maurice Shanley's shot that smashed off the post in the 21st minute was as close as they came.
Scorers - Louth: Sam Mulroy 0-5 (5f); C Keenan, C Downey 1-0 each; C Lennon 0-2; P Mathews, R Burns 0-1 each. Cork: B Hurley 0-4 (3f); E McSweeney, C Óg Jones 0-2 each; T Walsh, I Maguire, C O'Callaghan, P Doyle (1 45), M Cronin (1f) 0-1 each.
Louth: Niall McDonnell; Dermot Campbell, Peter Lynch, Donal McKenny; Ciaran Murphy, Anthony Williams, Craig Lennon; Conor Early, Tommy Durnin; Paul Mathews, Ciaran Keenan, Conor Grimes; Ciaran Downey, Sam Mulroy, Ryan Burns. Subs: Conall McCaul for Mathews (50), Leonard Grey for Murphy (58), Conall McKeever for Campbell (58), Dylan McKeown for Burns (61), Wayne Campbell for Keenan (65).
Cork: Patrick Doyle; Maurice Shanley, Daniel O'Mahony, Tommy Walsh; Luke Fahy, Sean Meehan, Mattie Taylor; Ian Maguire, Colm O'Callaghan; Eoghan McSweeney, Ruairi Deane, Brian O'Driscoll; Chris Óg Jones, Brian Hurley, Mark Cronin. Subs: Darragh Cashman for Fahy (ht), Steven Sherlock for Hurley (56), Rory Maguire for Meehan (56), David Buckley for Deane (58), Blake Murphy for Jones (69).
Referee: Martin McNally (Monaghan).
