Cleary off the mark as Cork hang tough for vital win over Louth 

Captain Brian Hurley led the Rebel charge to help John Cleary notch his first Championship win at the helm

NET GAINS:  Brian O'Driscoll of Cork jumps over Louth goalkeeper James Califf after scoring his side's first goal during the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Round 1 match between Louth and Cork at Páirc Tailteann in Navan, Meath. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile

Cork 1-19 Louth 1-17

Amid the frenzy and the chaos of a to-and-fro second half, Cork hung in and they hung on.

The victory is the county’s first in two and a half months. It will likely prove a season-extending result. Even at this early juncture in the Sam Maguire group stages, John Cleary’s side look good for a place in the knockout stages.

After a first half that went along at its own controlled pace, the second half crackled and popped and fizzled right to the seventh minute of injury time when Louth’s search for a winning goal was repelled by a white block inside the large parallelogram.

It was a lengthy injury time period where Cork looked safe one second and in danger of throwing away a winning hand the next. That description was also applicable to the second half as a whole.

And we’ll come back to the second half in a second. Let’s first get through that frantic finish.

Points on 72 and 75 minutes from Brian Hurley and John O’Rourke had Cork 1-18 to 1-15 in front. Surely, that was that.

We had had the exact same thought when Cork stretched six in front on 44 minutes. And look what happened there, less than a quarter of an hour later they found themselves one behind.

This second half was as unpredictable as it was entertaining. Mistakes were as plentiful as scores.

Louth’s Ciarán Downey and Conor Grimes threw over back-to-back points in less than a minute deep in the red to reduce the gap to the minimum. Cork needed to grab hold of the ball from the ensuing restart. They did just that. O’Rourke was fouled. The free was taken quickly and long to Conor Corbett. The clincher.

Cork needing a clinching point seven minutes into injury time was anything but on the cards when Hurley (two frees) and Chris Óg Jones kicked three-in-a-row to hand the Rebels a 1-11 to 0-8 advantage on 44 minutes.

But as was the case in Ennis when enjoying a four-point second-half lead, their game management was poor. A Liam Jackson goal on 47 minutes, arising from a short Cork kickout gone wrong, was part of a 13-minute period where Louth outgunned their opponents 1-6 to 0-2 to complete a seven-point swing.

Louth went through Cork like a seaside shop goes through 99s on warm days such as this.

Leonard Grey, sub Dylan McKeown, and Downey all kicked fine scores but where the pressure from the opposition wasn’t what it should have been.

Oh so crucial in Cork preventing the game and the result running away from them was a Brian Hurley free from the stand sideline to tie matters at 1-14 apiece on the hour mark. Brian O’Driscoll, stemming from a Louth mistake, shoved them back into pole position. They just about kept their noses ahead from there.

Cork’s lead had been four-strong at the break. 1-8 to 0-7. Their lead was fully merited. The size of it, though, they mightn’t have been overly satisfied with.

Cork owned possession in the opening half. They were smart in their use of long kickpasses to prevent Louth getting numbers back and getting their mass defence set up inside the 45-metre line.

Where Cork fell down early doors was their final product. From their first six scoring chances in the opening 13 minutes, all they managed was a second minute Brian Hurley free.

Left behind was a Chris Óg Jones handpass off the post, a Brian O’Driscoll wide, an Ian Maguire wide, an off-target Hurley ‘45, and a Luke Fahy miss.

In the play following Fahy’s wide, Louth went briskly up the field and split the posts through midfielder Conor Early. It left the scoreline reading 0-3 to 0-1 in favour of Mickey Harte’s men. It was a scoreline wholly unreflective of the play. That said, you could hardly blame Louth for their economy.

The first Cork green shoot came in the play after Early’s point. A long kickpass sailed over the black sea of retreating Louth players. Killian O’Hanlon received and O’Hanlon pointed.

Cork thought they had a goal on 16 minutes. Jones slipped a lovely through ball into Maguire. The midfield shook the net. But not before referee Martin McNally had called back the play for a Cork free, which Hurley converted.

Cork, who had by now got to full grips with Louth’s claustrophobic set-up, had their goal a minute later. Hurley forced goalkeeper James Califf to overcarry out on the 45-metre line. A quick free to the busy Ruairi Deane. Another quick transfer to Brian O’Driscoll. Goal.

From two down to three in front, the now 1-3 to 0-3 scoreline was reflective of proceedings.

Cork, mind, were not the only one's manufacturing goal openings. Michéal Aodh Martin produced a fine one-handed save to deny Donal McKenny. Sam Mulroy, who finished the half with two white flags from play and two from the dead-ball, saw his effort half-blocked by a gaggle of defenders in white.

Mulroy was initially watched by Seán Meehan. The latter was one of the four newcomers to the team from the side that fell to Clare seven weeks ago. Meehan departed injured on 20 minutes, replaced by Kevin O’Donovan.

An intercept by the sub began a move on the half hour that finished with Deane assisting for a Hurley minor. 1-7 to 0-5 Cork now led.

A difficult free sent over by Mulroy on the stroke of half-time narrowed the interval gap to four. He narrowed it further upon the restart.

Cork steadied themselves and stemmed Louth’s slow crawl of a comeback. Or at least they thought they had. Three-in-a-row shoved Cork out to six in front on 44 minutes. Their biggest lead of the day. Turns out we were only getting going in Navan.

A first championship win for John Cleary as manager. How he and his players needed it.

Cork will welcome Kerry to Páirc Uí Chaoimh next Saturday in fine fettle. And, more importantly, without the pressure of needing two points to rescue their summer.

Scorers for Cork: B Hurley (0-8, 0-6 frees); B O’Driscoll (1-1); C O’Callaghan, I Maguire (0-2 each); K O’Hanlon, S Powter, C Óg Jones, S Sherlock, J O’Rourke, C Corbett (0-1 each) 

Scorers for Louth: S Mulroy (0-8, 0-4 frees); L Jackson (1-0); C Downey (0-2); P Lynch, L Grey, T Durnin, C Early, C Grimes, C Lennon, D McKeon (0-1 each).

Cork: MA Martin; M Shanley, S Meehan, T Walsh; L Fahy, D O’Mahony, M Taylor; C O’Callaghan, I Maguire; K O’Hanlon, S Powter, B O’Driscoll; R Deane, B Hurley, C Óg Jones.

Subs: K O’Donovan for Meehan (20 mins, inj); S Sherlock for Powter (48, temporary); C Kiely for Walsh (49, inj); E McSweeney for O’Hanlon (55); C Corbett for Óg Jones (64); J O’Rourke for Hurley (73).

Louth: J Califf; D Campbell, P Lynch, A Williams; N Sharkey, D McKenny, L Grey; T Durnin, C Early; C McKeever, C Downey, B Duffy; P Mathews, S Mulroy, C Lennon.

Subs: D McConnon for Mathew, D McKeown for Duffy (both HT); L Jackson for Campbell (38); C Grimes for Lennon (44); C McCaul for McConnon (65).

Referee: M McNally (Monaghan).