Cork make early gains as Royal appointment looms
NET GAINS: Cork's Mark Cronin squeezes home the Rebels' third goal in their Division 2 victory over Offaly in Tullamore. Offaly goalkeeper Conor Melia and Rory Egan wonder how.. Pic: Thomas Flinkow/Sportsfile
A step closer to a promotion race, one giant leap towards a Munster semi-final bye in 2027.
Not that anyone on a breezy February afternoon in Tullamore was talking about next season after only three rounds into this one, but Cork have good reason to keep daylight between themselves and Clare and Limerick.
Retaining Division 2 status will mean Cork will be kept apart from Kerry in their last-four when the next provincial championship draw is made later this year.
Six points wasn’t enough to keep Down up last year but Cork’s current haul will be considered a springboard into an admittedly tougher second half of their campaign.
In Glenisk O’Connor Park, they were good when they had to be. Twelve points up in the third quarter, they lost focus and eventually their cushion was more than cut in half.
Offaly grafted until the end but they won the second half largely because Cork seemed to lose focus or interest. Some of the visiting minds may have been wandering to Meath and within reason seeing as Robbie Brennan’s men are also flying it.
The second half fade-out was enough for John Cleary to raise afterwards.
“I think we played very well in the first half, obviously. But look, in the second half we were sloppy, let them back into the game.
“We were in a very good position at half-time (2-9 to 0-6 up), but we spoke about it. Offaly are a running team and it probably suited them better playing against the wind. And that's the way it happened. And they got breaks around the middle, which we were getting maybe the first half. And they ran at us and they troubled us.”
A brace of Colm O’Callaghan first-half goals followed by another by Mark Cronin less than four minutes after the interval set Cork on their way for this win.
For a team that had been lacking goals, Cleary was satisfied.
“We had few goals up to now, and so three goals is welcome. He (O’Callaghan) drifted in behind. In fairness, he put them away very well.”
Captain Ian Maguire lost the toss and Offaly had the strong breeze for the first half but it was one of few concessions Cork made. They lorded possession in the first half, helped in no small part by Offaly’s reluctance to put much pressure on them.
Chris Óg Jones scored a point either side of a Cormac Egan two-pointer. Offaly would chance the long-ranger several more times before the break but Keith O’Neill’s effort was the only other one that landed between the sticks.
Daire McDaid had a weak penalty claim for Offaly in the eighth minute. Referee Seán Lonergan waved it away and up the field Cork went and their attack concluded with a Sheedy point.
Their first goal arrived in the 10th minute. The marauding O’Callaghan passed to Jones whose looping hand-pass to his on-running team-mate was perfect as was the Éire Óg’s finish to send Cork into a 1-3 to 0-2 lead.
It was the second in a run of five Cork scores without reply. Seán McDonnell and Cronin sent over a point within four minutes of each other and Steven Sherlock then punished a four-back infringement by Offaly.
O’Neill’s two-pointer in the 21st minute offered sweet but oh so brief relief for Offaly as Sherlock doubled his contribution when he punished a foul on the buzzing Jones.
McDonnell spanked the crossbar with a rifling strike in the 26th minute but there was a dividend for Cork soon after when Cronin fisted over a point.
A brace of Harry Plunkett points, the second of them for an overcarry by Maurice Shanley, brought Offaly within five points, but Cork’s end of the half was rousing.
Sherlock slotted over his first point from play in the 31st minute and O’Callaghan slipped a second goal three minutes later. Jones was again the provider with a hand-pass and Seán Meehan was also involved as Offaly’s cover was again blown wide open.
A third Cork goal came in the 39th minute. Ian Maguire made a great run to link the move involving Jones and Meehan and Cronin calmly dispatched the ball beyond Conor Melia.
Twelve points separated the sides before Offaly reeled off three without reply and then Rory Maguire was black carded for a cynical pulldown on Cormac Egan in the 46th minute.
Cork initially rode their 10-minute period well, going two points ahead. However, Offaly then send over another three without reply prior to Rory Maguire’s return to the field.
A fourth was fisted over by O’Neill and the margin was reduced to seven. An O’Callaghan point arrested Offaly’s momentum but their intensity levels had clearly dropped and the hosts were eating into their deficit.
Plunkett’s collection of points rose to eight and O’Neill’s to four as Offaly came within six but they were still tripping over themselves and Sherlock and substitute Seán Walsh consolidated Cork’s lead.
Other than losing the second half, 1-6 to 0-13, and perhaps registering no two-pointer (they didn’t attempt one), the one concern for Cork on the day was goalkeeper Patrick Doyle having to retire early with a leg injury.
Offaly’s prospects of staying in Division 2 already look dim but co-manager Declan Kelly praised their refusal to submit.
“In fairness to the lads, that’s something I would say about them all year. Regardless of their backs being to the wall, they’re plugging away and that builds character.”
H. Plunkett (0-8, 4 frees); H. O’Neill (0-5, 1 tp); C. Egan (0-3, 1tp); D. McDaid, N. Furlong, J. Hayes (0-1 each).
C. O’Callaghan (2-1); M. Cronin (1-4, 0-1 free); S. Sherlock (0-5, 2 frees); C. Jones (0-2); D. Sheedy, S. McDonnell, S. Walsh (0-1 each).
: C. Melia; S. O’Toole-Greene, D. Dempsey, D. McDaid; R. Egan, D. Egan, C. Egan; J. McEvoy, A. Leavy; K. O’Neill, J. Hayes, M. Dalton; H. Plunkett, C. Murphy, E. Sawyer.
N. Furlong for E. Sawyer (h-t); D. Flynn for C. Murphy (46); E. Dunne for M. Dalton (52); D. Molloy for A. Leavy (65).
: P. Doyle; M. Shanley, D. O’Mahony, S. Meehan; M. Taylor, R. Maguire, L. Fahy; C. O’Callaghan, I. Maguire (c); P. Walsh, D. Sheedy, S. McDonnell; M. Cronin, C. Jones, S. Sherlock.
R. Deane for P. Walsh (46); S. Walsh for I. Maguire (51); C. O’Mahony for C. Jones (52); M.A. Martin for P. Doyle (inj 59); C. Cahalane for S. McDonnell (66).
Black card: R. Maguire (46).
: S. Lonergan (Tipperary).
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