DISPIRITED, deflated and more than a bit angry, at the time of writing a little over 24 hours have passed since the final whistle on Sunday – and I feel no better than I did when Cork ran down their last blind alley of the afternoon.
Referee Noel Mooney called time on Cork’s championship season with Cork bottled up and losing possession near the corner flag for the umpteenth time. Immediately, the WhatsApps pinged from several individuals as we concurred that it was incredibly frustrating but appropriate that this was how the game would end. The last attack summed up how toothless Cork’s offensive game plan was against the deep-lying Louth defence, particularly in the second half after Cork had carelessly let a four-point lead slip to lose by one, 1-9 to 1-8.
This was a terrible game of football involving two teams consumed by caution, both with and without possession. We suggested last week that it would be a more cagey outing than the entertaining games against Kerry, Donegal and Tyrone, and it was.
In the look ahead to this preliminary quarter-final, I penned the following; ‘Louth may present a different challenge if they sit off more and allow Cork to have the ball, in which case Cork will have to show their capacity to break down a deeper set defensive structure as opposed to the reliance on counter attacking as per the games against the Division One opponents’. This was especially prophetic looking at the second half after Cork retired with a one goal lead. Daniel O’Mahony’s clever improvised finish from Ian Maguire’s pass had pushed Cork four points clear just past the half hour mark.
The goal contained two elements that would prove unfortunately very rare features of the Cork attacking game on the day, namely a positive attacking run into the danger area in front of goal from O’Mahony, and even more surprisingly, Maguire having the courage to attempt a diagonal kick pass into his path. This exhibition of variety would prove an outlier to the bulk of Cork’s attacking endeavours on the day. The long-range point kicking of Colm O’Callaghan being the only other positive from a laborious first half from the Cork men.
Regular readers will know I’ve highlighted the ‘open play set piece’ that Cork deploys against deep-lying defences as a cause of concern and confusion on my part. Cork have deployed the strategy regularly in the last two years when faced with opponents with everyone in their own half behind the ball. The set piece looks like this: Cork will have three or four players in a line across midfield and the ball will be handpassed laterally a few times, at some point one player, often Rory Maguire, will raise his fist. At this stage, virtually every player in front will head for either sideline and wait until the ball carriers decide which wing they are going to run to.
The plan then involves running towards the sideline and several handpasses between the players along the sideline. Occasionally, if the opposition aren’t prepared and switch off a little, someone will make a cut run infield and space will open for a shot. More often, however, the opposition are just happy to shepherd Cork to the sideline and as far away from goal as possible. When the defenders are switched on, Cork will either have to work the ball backwards to midfield and try to attack down the opposite wing or get bottled up and turned over in the corners as happened several times last Sunday and fatally so in the final minute. That Cork had no other idea on how to attack the opposition goal at such a crucial juncture was a damning indictment of everyone involved, particularly the head coach Kevin Walsh.
After two years under Walsh, Cork have become difficult for better teams to play against with a deep defensive block and a strong counter-attacking game, but when tasked with breaking down opponents with a similar plan, we struggle woefully. Management may well point to some missed chances in the second half, and the goal chances for Chris Óg Jones and Eoghan McSweeney in particular, however these chances came during a brief spell in the second half when Sean Powter created some problems for Louth off the bench with direct, central running and Louth keeper Niall McDonnell nearly gifted a goal to Cork when Jones opted to point instead.
The narrative might have been a little different if Cork had goaled from either chance and gone ahead late in the game, forcing Louth to chase rather than the other way around, yet in truth a win would have glossed over the ineptitude of the performance. The truth is Cork should have been more than good enough to beat an average Louth team, especially after going four points up in the first half and turning to play with the wind. Kerry had beaten this Louth team by 14 points just a week previously and had done so pulling up. For all the positives of the second half of the league and the championship displays against the aforementioned Division 1 teams, this was a day that was as dark as any that Cork fans have had to endure in our ever-extending stint in the football wilderness.
Whatever the opinions of what went wrong and who should bear the burden of blame – management, players, backroom team, the board, and just about everyone with an involvement in Cork football because we are nowhere near where we need to be across all levels at the moment – the cold, hard fact is that Cork are out of the championship at the very first knockout game of asking. It can be a lonely place sometimes in the Cork football world, and I would suggest that if you aren’t sharing my sense of anger this week, then the apathy I have alluded to previously is even more acute. How many are willing to get directly involved with Cork football in some capacity, or do we just shrug our shoulders and head back to our clubs and all start minding our own corners again? Something needs to change and a small, hardy few can’t do it all.
There will be ample time to discuss the future of Cork football in the coming weeks, the immediate speculation now surrounds John Cleary, Kevin Walsh and the extended management team. Cleary has done enough for Cork to make it his decision as to whether he stays on for another season, but the coaching set-up needs to be refreshed.
If so, who then to take the coaching job if Cleary was to accept another year at the helm? Well, inside the county I’m afraid pickings are thin at present so I wouldn’t close the door to the external avenue completely. A knowledgeable football friend did provide me with a very interesting suggestion, particularly given our necessity to improve our attacking football – could Cork tempt a certain Jason Sherlock to take on a head coaching role if Walsh isn’t involved in 2025?
Given his time spent in North Cork as a youngster, maybe it’s one that might be of interest to him. Our problems go deeper than just the travails of the senior team right now, but it could certainly be a jolt in the arm for the senior squad. Sherlock has developed great experience with Dublin under Jim Gavin, has playing experience from football, soccer and basketball at high levels and would bring some much needed interest and excitement with him back to Cork football. Jayo-mania on leeside? Count me in.
