THERE was no football action this past weekend for county or club, leaving the Six Nations to provide my sporting fix on a wet and miserable Saturday in March; that didn’t go too well either.
The weather didn’t look much better in Portugal for the Cork footballers, as heavy rain dampened the Iberian Peninsula. Take it from me, the term ‘training holiday’ is a complete misnomer as the trips are more akin to boot camps, and to not even get a few days’ good weather won’t help the morale in a squad that badly needs boosting.
The group has no time for self-pity though and will be working very hard to fine-tune fitness levels for the remainder of the season, and more importantly, work on the tactical issues and technical skills that need such improvements if the season is to be turned around for the better. The foreign training camp is the source of much debate in the GAA world, but if the time is used wisely, they can be very valuable.
Whether it is right or wrong to ask amateur players to take time off work is another debate, but for now these training camps are part of the culture amongst several top inter-county squads, so it is understandable that Cork don’t want to be left behind. Add in that Kevin Walsh doesn’t travel for midweek sessions and the improvement in Cork’s results after last year’s equivalent and the decision was an easy one for John Cleary.
As with everything in life, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating and there is huge pressure on Cork to beat Louth in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday afternoon. Cork and Louth have become familiar foes in recent seasons and there has been little between the teams in recent meetings. What will be foremost in everyone’s minds as the biggest and the smallest counties go head-to-head are the two defeats that Cork suffered against the Wee County just last year. An early reversal away to Louth in the second league game was bad enough, however the championship loss (1-9 to 1-8) in Inniskeen ranks alongside the worst that Cork football has endured in my lifetime.
This latest meeting is one Cork need to win to ease relegation concerns. The teams are locked together on four points, with Cork recording home wins over Meath and Westmeath while Louth picked up their wins away to Westmeath and home to Down. Louth were well beaten by Monaghan in Drogheda last time out, as a strong wind allowed the Ulster side to build a 17-point lead at one stage in the first half. Even in this era of big comebacks, and despite a decent effort in the second half, it was too much of a mountain to climb.
To be blunt, Louth are an average team heavily dependent on star forward Sam Mulroy for the bulk of their scores. Mulroy is a fine kicker of the ball and will punish the majority of discrepancies within 50 yards of the Cork goal, therefore Cork’s discipline will have to be much improved from the last day out against Roscommon. That is the first and most basic area that Cork can target for improvement from that woeful effort. Cork also badly need to work hard on shoring up their defence in Portugal, having conceded an average of 24.2 points per game far in the league. That average rises to 26 if you count only the last three outings.
Louth are also porous and concede an average of 23.2 points per game. In truth, it smacks of two teams that are struggling not being able to bring 15 players into their own half to block up all the space for their opponents, but they will at least not have to deal with an extra runner coming into attack as the latest rule amendments stipulate that four players have to stay in their own half instead of the previous three. This is a move that had to be taken by the FRC as the extra attacker meant that teams were unable to push out man-to-man even if they wanted to. Teams will still likely set up to defend the arc, but they can now go after the ball with more aggression and confidence when the need arises.
So, what of Cork ahead of this crucial encounter? Will they stick or twist with the personnel that have struggled so badly in the previous two games in particular? The recent defensive struggles mean that the back six may come under pressure with only Daniel O’Mahony and Matty Taylor sure of their positions. Youngsters Sean Brady and Daniel Lordan have done okay so far, but Roscommon and Ben O’Carroll in particular made hay against an open Cork defence last time out so changes are likely. Rory Maguire hasn’t hit the form he showed in his All-Star nominated season in 2023, and he needs a solid outing if given the nod again. Paul Walsh could revert to a wing back role if needed also and there is word that Luke Fahy is not too far from fitness which would be a welcome addition.
Tommy Walsh has been struggling for fitness and was withdrawn early against Roscommon – Cork need the Kanturk man fit and in form to help the beleaguered rearguard. Brian O’Driscoll was picked at wing-back for the game against Roscommon even if he played further forward at times and could be moved back to his more familiar location at number 12. Cork don’t have a plethora of options to make changes, however I think going with more size and experience could be an option for this encounter. Ruairi Deane, Sean Powter, Sean Walsh and Conor Cahalane are options for the starting 15 if Cork want to freshen up the line-up. I am assuming at this point that Brian Hurley is not yet fit enough to come into contention.
Could Cork deploy Sean Powter in a defensive role against Louth?
I’d be tempted to look at Powter in a defensive role to help shore things up even temporarily, especially if Tommy Walsh isn’t fit, while part of me feels the new rules cry out for a ball winner at 11, particularly as Cork’s overload kick-out tends to open up big spaces in front of centre-forward which we don’t tend to exploit. I would consider Colm O’Callaghan for the ‘Pearse O’Neill role’ as a kick-out winning centre-forward who can also hurt defences with his running game and kick a point. Chris Kelly then could get the call up to recreate the club understanding with his Éire Óg team-mate.
Conor Cahalane or Mitchelstown’s Walsh could partner Ian Maguire at midfield, and I would be tempted to see what the Castlehaven man can do having been called up after his release from the hurling panel. Cahalane is not a young player that can be given extended time to develop, he can be thrown in at the deep end to see if he can transfer his club form to the higher level.
Bantry’s Deane is another option, and I would pick him at number 10 for this game, knowing that he could be inter-changeable with Cahalane to add some unpredictability to Cork’s set-up. Mark Cronin and Chris Óg Jones are certainties for 13 and 14, and I would select Cathail O’Mahony over Sean McDonnell at 15 because I believe he has the ability to be a serious inter-county forward if he stays fit and gets a run of games.
Louth had the upper hand in last year’s collisions, however Cork are well capable of turning that tide on home ground. Recent performances wouldn’t inspire huge confidence, so Cork will need to have found some form on the training fields of Portugal. Another year of Division 3 football and a season out of the Sam Maguire race become very real prospects if the points don’t stay down here on Leeside. Whatever team Cleary and company decide to go with, failure is not an option in this contest.
