The scoreboard might suggest that there was a little bit between Laois and Cork in tonight's Allianz League clash at O’Moore Park, but in truth these sides were very well matched in every aspect bar one – efficiency.
If anything, it was the home side who was more impressive in general play, with no shortage of intensity or pace in the Laois style of play this evening. Yet when it came to the "red zone" in front of the posts, the two sides were worlds apart.
Nothing summed this up more than the last minute of normal time, when Mark Barry had a shot for Laois that was inadvertently blocked by his own man, whereupon Cork came down the field and Shane Forde was able to split the posts, despite the fact that his boot came off as he kicked the ball.
Laois had three clear goal chances, but failed to take any, while Cork had just the two and finished both with masterful precision. Laois struck eight wides and half that number in shots that dropped short, as opposed to Cork who had just two misses all evening, the second with the very last kick of the game.
Given the manner of Cork’s defeat to Kildare last week, where a late run of scores masked how far off the mark they were in that game at Semple Stadium, the confidence and assuredness that Ronan McCarthy’s side displayed this evening was remarkable.
Ciarán Sheehan gave the attack a fulcrum at full forward, and from the moment he leapt up to claim an early mark, it was clear that Laois had to pay plenty of attention to the former Australian Rules player – thus opening up opportunities for everyone around him.
Even at that early stage, the tone for the game had been set. Kieran Lillis went through on goal and punched the ball wide from 12 metres out, Evan O’Carroll struck the post with the next play, and on the first Cork attack we saw two inch-perfect foot passes play in Seán White, who slipped the ball under Niall Corbet’s legs from close range.
Two Brian Byrne points rallied Laois as they took control of the battle for scrappy possession at midfield, despite the early loss of centre back Colm Begley to injury, but once Cork got possession, they made it count. Kevin O’Driscoll and Ian Maguire kicked excellent scores, before a misplaced Laois handpass set up Rúairí Deane for a second goal.
2-07 to 0-07 at half time left Cork in control, but not yet home and hosed. Laois needed a breakthrough and they got chances, but for whatever reason, their two best goalscoring chances fell to full back Mark Timmons.
He drew a good save from Micheál Martin with his first effort and hesitated before pulling the trigger on the second occasion, leading to a loss of possession.
Primary possession was no issue for the midlanders, but they kept running into traffic close to goal and their entire second half scoring record consisted of two 45s from goalkeeper Niall Corbet and one point from Daniel O’Reilly.
Without ever hitting the high notes, Cork were able to sit back, absorb the pressure, and see out a win that brings their vision of promotion back up to the top tier of the Allianz League right back into focus.
Laois: Niall Corbet (0-02, '45s); Robert Pigott, Mark Timmons, Gareth Dillon; Trevor Collins, Patrick O'Sullivan, Colm Begley; John O’Loughlin, Kieran Lillis (0-01); Daniel O’Reilly (0-02), Eoin Lowry, Paul Kingston; Brian Byrne (0-02), Donal Kingston (0-03, frees), Evan O’Carroll.
Subs: Alan Farrell for Begley (2), Mark Barry for O’Carroll (50), Gary Walsh for D Kingston (52), Eoin Buggie for O’Sullivan (60), Michael Keogh for Lowry (60), Sean O’Flynn for Byrne (66), Brendan Carroll for P Kingston (66).
Cork: Mícheál Martin; Sean Powter, Daniel O’Mahony, Kevin Flahive; Kevin O’Donovan, Sean Meehan, Mattie Taylor (0-01); Ian Maguire (0-02), Paul Walsh; Sean White (1-00), Ruairi Deane (1-00), Kevin O’Driscoll (0-01); John O’Rourke (0-02), Ciaran Sheehan (0-02, 0-01 mark), Luke Connolly (0-01).
Subs: Damien Gore for Connolly (50), Colm O’Callaghan for Sheehan (52), Mark Collins (0-02, frees) for O’Driscoll (52), Tadhg Corkery for Taylor (57), Cian Kiely for O’Donovan (57), Dan Dineen for O’Rourke (63), Shane Forde (0-01) for Powter (63).
Referee: Barry Judge (Sligo)
