Is Cork v Louth knockout in all but name?

REMATCH: Louth manager Mickey Harte and Cork manager John Cleary at the end of the qualifier match in 2022. Pic: INPHO/Ken Sutton

Louth, Kerry, and Mayo. The 21-point pummeled Leinster finalists, the All-Ireland champions, and the League champions.

Louth, Kerry, and Mayo. Cork’s three bedfellows in Group 1 of the spruced-up Sam Maguire format.

One win will be sufficient to advance. One doesn’t need to be fully plugged-in to the goings-on of Gaelic football to know which game Cork should be going after for said win.

After seven weeks out of view, the Cork footballers re-enter the ring on Saturday afternoon. The ring should be Páirc Mhuire Ardee. The scene of a frustrating and almost far-reaching league loss to Saturday’s opponents.

Ardee’s 2,600 capacity, however, does not tick all necessary Croke Park boxes. And so Cork find themselves on the road to Navan.

If the Louth fixture stood as Cork’s most winnable when the groups were firmed up, the fact that Mickey Harte’s men will not enjoy home comforts and must instead decamp across the Meath border has only enhanced that perception.

We spoke to Cork manager John Cleary earlier this week. We hadn’t spoken to Cleary since the afternoon of the Munster quarter-final defeat to Clare on Easter Sunday. We asked him about the importance of collecting maximum points off Louth, what with wounded Kerry and revved-up Mayo on the menu in Rounds 2 and 3.

Cleary didn’t want to - publicly, at least - put all Cork eggs in one basket. He didn’t want to - publicly, at least - shape Saturday's assignment as a knockout one. Which is all fine and fair.

But all available evidence - and form - says quite clearly that Saturday's Navan bout is indeed knockout.

“We are treating this as a three-game block,” the Cork manager opened.

“We are ranked four in the group. Louth definitely is a target that we would hope to try and get a victory over. But whether we do or we don't, we'll treat the three games equally.” 

Cleary’s next utterance perfectly summed up Cork football for the past God knows how many years. It also spoke to the fact that while Cork should be viewing Louth as their best chance at two points, Louth are looking at Cleary’s side in exactly the same light.

“On our day, we are a match for anybody. But when we are not at it, we can be a target for anyone,” Cleary acknowledged.

Cork were certainly not at it from the 42nd minute onward of the Munster quarter-final. A quickfire three-in-a-row from Steven Sherlock and Sean Powter within the first six minutes of the restart moved Cleary’s charges 0-9 to 0-5 in front. The wind and momentum were at their backs. But neither were they capable of finding another gear nor protecting what they had.

The county’s first championship defeat to Clare in 26 years is now seven weeks in the rearview mirror. Plenty of time to heed the lessons from that setback. Saturday in Páirc Tailteann is the time to put those learnings into practice.

“The standout thing was game management. That was the big lesson. We were four up in the second half and we made individual mistakes which allowed Clare back into the game.

“There are a lot of younger lads there and that was a big experience for them. Hopefully they will have learned from it. Hopefully we will have all learned from it.

“If we got into the same position again, I'd like to think we'd be able to manage things a bit better when the pressure comes on. And that when things are frantic and flying around the place, that we can be a bit more composed and manage things better going down the home stretch.” 

Cork took a week off after their Ennis elimination from Munster. They got back together not knowing if their next outing would be in the Sam Maguire or Tailteann Cup. The work went on regardless. Page turned, their new season throws in on Saturday.

And while they’d much rather be commencing this latest chapter off the back of a far more positive and prolonged provincial campaign, the six-week block did allow for an uninterrupted preseason of football, football, and more football.

“We were able to concentrate on stuff that maybe at the start of the season we weren't able to do because when we started playing in January, it was games almost every week and you couldn't really overdo the training in between.

“This block gave us the time to do the things we wanted to do and wanted to work on, tactical stuff, and if they didn't work on a particular night, we'd go at it again two nights later. Maybe that's where the advantage was, rather than putting all your thoughts into either the game just gone or the game ahead of you. It gave us that bit of space.” 

Wrapping up, Cleary alluded to the fact that Cork’s spring was full of its usual ups and downs. He also alluded to the fact that the troughs were typically followed by a peak of some sort. Frustrating first day out at home to Meath. Fine response the following weekend away to Kildare. And so on and so on it went.

They can’t afford another setback on Saturday. Bouncing back will require rinsing Kerry or Mayo of two points. That’s not a scenario they want to test out.

“Overall, the last few weeks have gone very well. We'll see on Saturday how that pans out.”