Louth's stunning double blow sinks Cork
Two goals seal Louth's victory as Cork's struggles continue
Louth 2-9
Cork 0-13
Tommy Durnin first, then Conor Grimes pulled the ball out of the sky to give Louth supporters exactly what they needed before Martin McNally blew the final whistle.A full time roar of relief mixed with defiance.
In the frantic finale Louth thwarted whatever feeble attempts Cork had to try and take two league points away from the hosts but it was never going to happen.
Cork missed frees and were unimaginative for the second time in successive seasons as Louth defeated them. This time they would have no excuses as all of their top line players were on the field.
One of those, Brian Hurley, who ran the back pitch in Atha Ferdia last season was an influential stakeholder in the most recent meeting.
An early black card didn’t seem to have an immediate effect on Cork as they lead 0-5 to 0-3 in his absence but come the finish that numerical disadvantage looked to have tired out legs and weary minds.
Hurley in fact wasn’t even on the pitch in the dying moments. A curious decision by Cork manager John Cleary as his replacement Steven Sherlock missed a vital free in the finish.
After holding out with less men Cork looked to be pushing on when Hurley came back into the fray with two classy scores. But with the full complement Cork’s concentration switched off.
Louth upped the ante and found the net twice in two minutes. Cork did not heed an earlier warning when Paul Mathews was denied for a square ball.
Ciaran Downey lashed home a low strike after Mathews drove down the middle of the Cork defence after a Maurice Shanley lapse. 120 seconds later, Ciarán Kiki Keenan marked his first Louth start on home soil by batting home Conor Early pull back from the end line.
The quick concession of the second highlighted how stunned Cork were and indicated the fragility of the winless Leesiders. So with the win at their backs, Cork foolishly lost their lead and trailed 2-4 to 0-9 at a crucial juncture.
Brennan’s side showed all the resolve they would need to take an unlikely halftime lead.Louth have remained stoic but confident in Ardee and across two management teams now and arguably it should have never been that close in the first place.
Sam Mulroy and Ryan Burns began the half with shots from distance that they thought the wind would carry but that only allowed Cork to remain in the game.
The difference besides the two goals was Louth’s control compared to Cork’s with the wind and in stark contrast the Leesiders were denied on four occasions by Niall McDonnell on his home debut.
With news of Craig Lynch’s return to the fold and presence on the bench Sunday, that only seemed to motivate the Fechins net-minder all afternoon.
Cork indeed took the lead twice through Eoghan McSweeney and Chris Óg Jones but the former's wayward pass allowed Ryan Burns to counter up the field to aplomb.
Craig Lennon just beforehand showed the Hunterstown man the motion to do so. With the gale behind them in front of the home support Louth had their noses in front and it would remain that way.
Mulroy added the third successive point on the trot to also make amends for last week's late miss in the Cathedral city. Louth are off the mark.
LOUTH: Niall McDonnell; Dermot Campbell, Peter Lynch, Donal McKenny; Ciarán Murphy, Anthony Williams, Craig Lennon 0-2; Conor Early, Tommy Durnin; Paul Mathews 0-1, Ciarán Keenan 1-0, Conor Grimes; Ryan Burns 0-1, Sam Mulroy 0-5 (4f, 1'45), Ciarán Downey 1-0.
SUBS: Conall McCaul for Mathews (50), Leonard Grey for Campbell (58), Conall McKeever for Murphy (58),Dylan McKeown for Burns (62), Wayne Campbell for Keenan (65).
CORK: Patrick Doyle 0-1, (1’45); Maurice Shanley, Daniel O'Mahony, Tommy Walsh 0-1; Luke Fahy, Seán Meehan, Mattie Taylor; Ian Maguire 0-1, Colm O’Callaghan 0-1; Eoghan McSweeney 0-2, Ruairí Deane, Brian O’Driscoll; Chris Óg Jones 0-2, Brian Hurley 0-4 (3f), Mark Cronin 0-1 (1f).
SUBS: Darragh Cashman for Fahy (HT), Steven Sherlock for Hurley (56), Rory Maguire for Meehan (56), David Buckley for Deane (59), Blake Murphy for Óg Jones (69)
REF: Martin McNally (Monaghan).