Mexican stand-off beckons for familiar foes

For counties that had only ever crossed championship paths twice prior to 2022, the familiarity between the respective counties has been built up over a very short period of time.

Tomorrow’s preliminary quarter-final meeting is the third year in a row they face-off – only Galway v Armagh in the same time period, with perhaps Kerry v Dublin to follow, can match that feat – and throw league meetings into the mix and it’s a fifth meeting between the sides in three years.

The 1957 All-Ireland final remains Louth’s only championship victory over the Rebels, but the average winning margin for Cork (2007 and 2022 qualifiers, 2023 round-robin) is 2.5 points, and many feel the outcome in Inniskeen – Louth’s home ground of Ardee is deemed not fit to stage a major championship game – will be the toss of a coin.

“It’s the draw both teams wanted,” Cork’s former captain Paul Kerrigan tells RTÉ Sport, a nod to the standings of both sides and the fact Louth’s ‘home’ advantage has been removed.

The 2010 All-Ireland winner has witnessed the start of the growing regularity in this fixture, with the balance of power more even than ever before.

The Rebels enjoyed comfortable league wins in 2018 and 2020, with that Covid-era fixture at Pairc Ui Chaoimh a reminder of the journey the Wee County have embarked on in recent seasons.

The hosts racked up 5-19 in an empty stadium, with Kerrigan bagging a couple of goals on the night. What struck the Nemo Rangers man was the naivety shown at times by the visitors – Cork hit 3-09 without reply at one stage – in defence.

“They were just very open, and Sam Mulroy seemed to be more of a one-man band in attack back then,” Kerrigan recalls.

That 18-point trimming sent the teams in opposite directions, the Rebels rising to Division Two and Louth condemned to the bottom tier.

It would be a couple of years before they crossed paths again, but when they did – a round 1 qualifier on Leeside – the Mickey Harte revolution was beginning to take hold.

Right from the throw-in their intentions were clear, sitting deep and allowing Cork dictate terms. In a shot-shy encounter, it took Colm O’Callaghan’s goal in additional time to finally kill off their opponents who only really found any scoring rhythm towards the end of the contest, Conor Grimes’ goal at the death merely a consolation.

“They parked the bus inside the 45,” says Kerrigan, who had hung up the inter-county boots by that point.

“They just retreated immediately. Mickey Harte obviously wanted them set up without the ball first, but they have come on a lot since then.”

James Califf, enjoying his first season of inter-county retirement after 14 years between the sticks for Louth, says the pragmatic approach in that 2022 defeat was reflective of where they were at the time.

“We were coming off a 16-point hammering against Kildare,” he tells RTÉ Sport. “It was a case of trying to shut up shop for the majority of the game, but we kind of left it too late.

“Cork and Louth are very much on par now, but maybe a couple of years ago we might have regarded Cork as a step ahead of us.”

Last year’s league encounter saw Louth ended a 66-year losing streak against Cork.

John Cleary’s side looked well positioned for victory midway through the first half, but Daniel O’Mahony’s sending off just before half time would prove crucial as the hosts ground out victory in Ardee.

Two months later however the Rebels were back on track, seeing off Louth by a couple of points in a highly entertaining encounter at Pairc Tailteann, Colm O’Callaghan and Ian Maguire dominating around the middle and Brian O’Driscoll’s 57th-minute goal sending Cork on their way.

The obvious change since last summer’s clash in Ger Brennan replacing Mickey Harte, with fears over the slowing of the team’s progress failing to materialise.

Their Division 2 status was retained, a second successive Leinster final appearance was achieved while they got the better of neighbours Meath in the championship for the first time since 1975.

Craig Lennon has been in sparkling goal-scoring scoring form, while Conor Grimes has picked up some of the scoring slack in the full-forward line, picking off 1-09 to date.

Ciaran Keenan has been the link man at 11, back fully fit after a catalogue of injury issues, while Ciarán Byrne has been operating a high level throughout the year. That is before we even get to the free-scoring Sam Mulroy.

For all the noted improvement up front – only Dublin (27) have scored more than Louth’s 25 goals across league and championship this year – Califf believes the strongest string to their bow is their work out of possession.

“It’s no secret at this stage,” he said. “It’s a continuation of Mickey Harte’s work. Louth are a comfortable without the ball as they are with it. They are very comfortable defending, chaperoning teams in possession.”

After a solid showing against Kerry in Munster, exacting revenge on Clare for last year’s championship defeat and inflicting a first competitive defeat on Donegal in a swash-buckling display at Pairc Ui Rinn, Cork’s attempt to top the group fell short against Tyrone.

Paul Walsh’s missed goal chance two minutes into the second half and Chris Óg Jones black card scuppered their chance to bypass the preliminaries altogether.

“I was watching the game thinking, ‘just don’t lose the game in this 10 minutes (of the black card)’, but they did,” says Kerrigan.

“When they were chasing the game, they found it hard to come up with scores, similar to the game in Killarney earlier this year.”

Cork are using the running game, dropping numbers back and counter-attacking, which Louth are doing as well. It could be a bit of a Mexican stand-off

Cork’s 60% conversion rate against Tyrone, including 17 minutes of the second half without a score, was further strength to the argument that it is an attack that at times lacks teeth.

While Sam Mulroy has accounted for 40% of Louth’s scores in the championship, the Rebel spread is much more democratic. Captain Brian Hurley leads the way, but his 0-18 is just 20% of the team’s overall tally. Steven Sherlock is next in line having only started one of Cork’s five championship outings.

Sean Powter has two goals to his name having failed to raise a white flag so far.

“Cork are using the running game more than they have in the last few years, dropping numbers back and counter-attacking, which Louth are doing as well,” says Califf.

“It could be a bit of a Mexican stand-off.”

The added incentive for Louth to reach the last eight for the first time since the introduction of the backdoor 23 years ago is that their quarter-final task looks less daunting that that of Cork’s.

Cleary’s men would face one from Armagh, Dublin or Kerry, but by dint of their Leinster final joust with the Dubs and having already faced the Kingdom in the group stage, they would have Ulster opposition in the last eight, Armagh or Donegal.

“They have experience of playing Armagh and Donegal in the league, and played quite well against them,” Califf says.

“The way Louth are set-up this year, they are very hard to break down. In the Leinster final, they still caused Dublin some problems, so there is no fear factor anymore. If they come up against Armagh or Donegal, they would be happy enough.

“No matter what, this year is progress. Getting to a Leinster final again, getting out of the group. The Cork game is 50/50 and getting to a quarter-final I’d say would have been a target at the start of the year.

“Seeing the amount of kids with Louth jerseys at league and championship matches this year, it’s something I haven’t seen before.

“We have two big soccer towns, but it feels like there is a bit of shift there at the moment.”

Watch the Tailteann Cup semi-finals, Antrim v Laois (2pm) and Down v Sligo (4pm), on Sunday from 1.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1