Very few positives for Cork despite seven-point win

Cork 2-11 Louth 0-10: An unusual game at Páirc Uí Rinn: Cork cruise to victory, despite having two men sent off, while simultaneously being flattered by a seven-point winning margin.

The home side were slicker and sharper than the visitors, but the dismissal of Kevin O’Driscoll, in the 47th minute, was followed by a Louth run of scores which narrowed Cork’s lead to four. Peter Kelleher was sent off for Cork, who defended calmly, but Cian Kiely’s late, coolly-taken goal still gave the scoreboard a somewhat false appearance.

“We were very poor,” said Cork manager, Ronan McCarthy. “The only two positives are we won the game and we got new people in again to make their debuts. We got game time into a few people. Those are the positives.