Small details bounce in relieved Cork's favour
THAT'S MY BOY: Taoiseach Michéal Martin celebrates Saturday's crucial win in Portlaoise with his son and Cork's No 1, Míchéal Aodh Martin. Pic: Daire Brennan/Sportsfile
Followers of Cork football have spent far too much time of late lamenting goal chances not taken and kickouts not won.
Saturday was no clean slate. Micheál Aodh Martin’s first two restarts were won by Enda Smith and broken by Dylan Ruane to Daire Cregg. The pair of lost restarts resulted in a pair of Roscommon points.
Ian Maguire slipped through for two first-half goal opportunities. Poise did not join him inside the cover. Neither chance drew green out of the ground.
These familiar matchday problems, though again present, did not prove defining. Cork’s 2025 film reel of unfinished goal chances and kickouts not taken down did not spin uncontrollably on loop at Portlaoise.
The usual lamenting eventually gave way to relieved lauding.
Those lauded were not the usual top-end-of-the-field characters. For all the toil of Maguire, his midfield partner Colm O’Callaghan, and the durable middle-third mop head that is Paul Walsh, and for all the artistry of Seán McDonnell and Mark Cronin, the plaudits were directed at defensive colleagues.
Come the 55th minute, Cork’s 14 second-half attacks bettered Roscommon’s count by two. A four-point interval lead had been extended to five.
But just as GAA+ coverage dropped, Roscommon charged on blank television screens and assumed dominance. In the closing 16 minutes, they had 10 attacks to Cork’s two. They had 11 shots to Cork’s one.
Time to return to the conversation, the oft-maligned Martin. On 58 minutes, he emerged off his line, narrowed the space for Daire Cregg, and produced a superb save to deny Roscommon’s outstanding threat. The rebound still spun in behind him.
Full-back Seán Brady and Roscommon sub Ciarán Lennon dived at possession. Brady won by a fingertip. A Roscommon 45 instead of a Roscommon goal. The gap back to three instead of one.
Seventy seconds from the hooter, Martin dived forward amid a packed goalmouth to punch away a Diarmuid Murtagh kick. Roscommon went short from the resulting and latest 45. They had to.
Behind by two, they required an equalising orange flag to save their summer. Cork’s summer could only be saved by victory.
The hooter came and went. Roscommon continued to wear paint off the arc. Murtagh took on responsibility and the kick. Daniel O’Mahony flung himself forward for the match-winning block.
O’Mahony and Brady had begun the second half forcing Ben O’Carroll into an overcarry. Enda Smith was hunted down and turned over by half-forward McDonnell on the Cork 20-metre line.
Maurice Shanley’s intercept of a Ben O'Carroll pass precipitated the breakaway move that led to Paul Walsh’s 54th minute point and a 0-18 to 0-13 lead.
“We defended heroically,” said John Cleary. “We kept them to one goal chance and Micheál made a fantastic save. He is a great shot-stopper. That is why we are rolling on.
“Dan O'Mahony got the block in the last play. Luckily it broke into Seán Powter's hand. That is where games are won; small, small margins.”
O’Mahony’s hand was the difference between a fourth consecutive winless outing and a third consecutive preliminary quarter-final appearance. The larger picture was lost on nobody.
It has been a difficult and, at times, disheartening year for Cork football.
Victories have been a rare commodity at all levels. Saturday was a first championship win in 10 weeks and first over a county ranked higher than them in the League since June 1 of last year.
“We’re in debt with the management there the last two years. There were games we should have come out on top of but didn’t. Long may this last so,” said Colm O’Callaghan.
“We needed a win like that. The group needed a win. Cork football needed a win like that,” added Cleary.
Cathail O’Mahony was unsuccessful with his equalising kick at the end of extra-time against Kerry. On 67 minutes here, he took a direct line from 50 metres out, darted past Conor Hand, and delivered Cork’s sole point of the closing 16 points.
Cork’s opener was Brian O’Driscoll’s 10th two-pointer of the year. Roscommon didn’t bother with the orange flag until they had to. Four attempts from beyond the arc in the final 10 minutes went short or wide.
There were six point attempts in total in this period that came to nought.
On March 1, Roscommon came to Leeside and won by 14 points. In the three and a half months since, the only win they've recorded was over London. Their year is done.
“Since March 1, since the FRC changed the rules and the 12 v 11, we were quite good at it. We had to adapt like everyone else, we might have adapted slower, or we didn’t adapt as well as other teams,” said Davy Burke. “It’s a right good Cork team that was written off by everybody, so they were coming with a song today, and we expected they would.”
Lyrics of lament parked, Cork must now produce a second summer album this weekend.
: M Cronin (0-5, 0-2 frees); S McDonnell (0-3); B O’Driscoll (tp), I Maguire, C O’Callaghan, P Walsh (0-2 each); B Hurley, C O’Mahony, E McSweeney (0-1 each).
: D Cregg (0-5); D Murtagh, C McKeon (0-2 each); C Carroll (0-1 ‘45), S Lambe, E Nolan, D Ruane, E Smith, C Murtagh, B O’Carroll, D Smith (0-1 each).
: MA Martin; S Meehan, S Brady, D O’Mahony; B O’Driscoll, M Shanley, M Taylor; I Maguire, C O’Callaghan; P Walsh, S Walsh, S McDonnell; B Hurley, C Óg Jones, M Cronin.
: R Maguire for Meehan (HT); E McSweeney for S Walsh (42); S Powter for P Walsh (56); R Deane for Taylor (58); C O’Mahony for Jones (61).
: C Carroll; D Murray, P Frost, B Stack; R Daly, S Cunnane, S Lambe; E Nolan, E Smith; D Ruane, D Smith, D Cregg; D Murtagh, B O’Carroll, C Murtagh.
: K Doyle for Nolan (42-44 temporary); C Neary for D Smith (49); C McKeon for Ruane (52); C Hand for Daly (53); C Lennon for O’Carroll (55); D Kenny for Lambe (65).
Referee: M McNally (Monaghan).
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