Sherlock and Hurley lead the way as Rebels rediscover winning touch
Cork's Rory Maguire and Sean Powter in action against Louth's Sam Mulroy in the All-Ireland SFC Qualifier at Páirc Uí Chaoimh this afternoon
The Cork footballers found enough holes in a heavily fortified Louth defence to secure the county’s first win of the 2022 championship and put themselves in the bowl for Monday morning’s second-round qualifier draw.
Ahead by the minimum at the break, Cork stretched clear in the final quarter when a tiring Louth rearguard lost its up-to-then rigid and suffocating defensive shape.
A Steven Sherlock 45 and Brian Hurley point had Cork 0-11 to 1-5 in front on 65 minutes and their passage to the next round appeared certain when Hurley got on the end of a sweeping move involving Sean Powter and sub Brian Hayes to goal a minute later.
Louth, who now had no option but to abandon their defensive constraints and chase the game, landed three on the bounce through Liam Jackson, Ciarán Downey, and Tom Jackson to reduce proceedings to a one score game halfway through the four minutes of second half stoppages.
In what was a score-laden finish, a conclusion very much out of step with the monotonous fare that had preceded it, Colm O’Callaghan goaled for Cork, only for Louth’s Conor Grimes to rattle the Cork net in the very next play.
Sherlock's sixth free in the fifth minute of injury-time eventually made sure of Cork’s progression, the Barr’s clubman one of only three Cork scorers across the 70-plus minutes.
In the clearest sign possible of what was to come, Louth had every one of their 14 outfield players positioned behind the 45-metre line less than 30 seconds after referee Fergal Kelly got proceedings underway.
Come at us with whatever you’ve got, read the Louth invitation promptly issued to their opponents. And while Eoghan McSweeney being turned over amid heavy Louth traffic on the 20-metre line offered early evidence of the puzzle Cork had to go and solve, the hosts mined three points in a three-minute spell approaching the 10-minute mark to suggest they had the toolkit to unravel this Louth blanket.
Part of this Cork approach included a high, high press on the Louth restart, a stacking of bodies inside the opposition 45-metre line that yielded a white flag dividend after full-back Maurice Shanley won the Louth kick-out that directly followed Steven Sherlock’s opening free.
For all Cork’s early success in finding gaps in the white wall, though, Mickey Harte’s charges were level with their first score on 17 minutes. It was a length-of-the-field counter attack that captured Louth’s effectiveness when breaking from defence to attack, the ball worked through several pairs of hands before Sam Mulroy played in Liam Jackson for a palmed goal.
That was to prove Louth’s sole score from play until corner-back Dan Corcorcan kicked their first point from play 14 seconds before the clock entered first half stoppages.
That Corcoran point left the Wee County just one behind at the break, a 0-7 to 1-3 scoreline that in no way tallied with the possession dominance of Cork and the vast difference in the number of scoring opportunities created by either side.
Most illustrative with regard to how negatively Louth set up was that when Sam Mulroy lined up for the two first half frees he converted, each of his teammates, instead of remaining in the opposition half and contesting the ensuing kickout, trotted back inside the Louth half of the field to ready themselves ahead of the next Cork foray.
Cork’s response to the Jackson goal was to kick three of the game’s next four points, one of those a Sherlock free after John O’Rourke was fouled when Cork won another Louth restart.
Sherlock and Brian Hurley were Cork’s only scoring contributors in the first period, the latter, after a subdued showing against Kerry, finishing the half with two from play and a mark. Come the final whistle, Hurley had 1-4 beside his name in a man of the match showing.
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