Louth secured a notable championship triumph over Cork at Inniskeen in the third extra minute, courtesy of a free shot from Sam Mulroy. The result symbolized Louth’s first-ever advancement to the All-Ireland quarter-finals.
The match was evenly poised at full time, but a crucial drive up the field by the outstanding Craig Lennon set Louth up for the final decisive free kick. Lennon’s drive had been triggered by Louth during a turnover from Cork and culminated in him winning a free due to alleged foul play by Matty Taylor and Ian Maguire.
Mulroy seized this crucial opportunity to put Louth ahead, and he executed flawlessly by kicking the ball right into the black spot, leading to an eruption of cheers from the majority of the spectators at Grattan Park. A final attempt from Cork to balance the score proved futile as Louth managed to confine them in the lower right corner, resulting in them winning a free and concluding the game. The match ended with a pitch invasion, chronicling a momentous occasion for Louth.
This marks Louth’s inaugural victory in the championships against Cork since the 1957 All-Ireland final, and it is the first time they’ve qualified for the All-Ireland quarter-finals.
Although Cork led at half-time 1-5 to 0-5, they faltered on capitalising on their lead and only scored one point in the first 26 minutes of the second half. Donal McKenny’s key goal in the 56th minute fueled Louth’s faith in sealing the win.
The initial half of the competition was rather tense and devoid of much thrill, the game pace slow, both teams focused on holding their positions and challenging the opponent possession. Frequently, the teams shifted across the field, adhering to the convoluted but predictable rhythm of the game.
The strategy employed by Cork was to load the left channel with four or five right-footed players stationed along the sideline while on the offensive, awaiting the opportune moment to come in off the shoulder for a shot. Nonetheless, the attacking gameplay from both teams often seemed lacklustre and sluggish, and the defenses were only tested when the pace was ramped up.
In the first half, Colm O’Callaghan of Éire Óg club and a midfielder for Cork, displayed an impressive performance by securing three points in the initial 35 minutes, using both right and left. Conversely, Louth managed to penetrate the defence of Cork several times, resulting in an opening score by Lennon for the Wee County.
In the 19th minute, Ryan Burns increased the advantage of Louth to 0-4 to 0-2 with two scores. However, they did not achieve another score until 17 minutes later. Meanwhile, Cork registered 1-3 with no response. Two of these points were scored by O’Callaghan, but the definitive score was made by full-back Daniel O’Mahony of the Knocknagree club. Even with the Louth defence behind him, he seized an opportunity when the ball was floated over the top by Ian Maguire. O’Mahony cleverly assisted a fantastic ball over the Louth goalkeeper, Niall McDonnell, making it 1-5 to 0-4.
During injury time, Mulroy earned a free point, narrowing the interval scores to only three. Yet within eight minutes of the second half, Louth equalised the score with points from Mulroy, Paul Mathews, and a perfect dummy hop by Lennon. Mathews had a golden chance to put Louth ahead but his shot ended up going just above the Cork crossbar.
It took 16 minutes for Cork to record a point in the second half, thanks to Brian Hurley. Shortly after, there occurred an excellent dispossession by Bevan Duffy on Rory Maguire, resulting in Louth obtaining an advantageous three versus two situation. Unfortunately, they wasted the chance and acquired no points.
On the brighter side, a goal by McKenny followed soon after when a long speculative shot by Conor Grimes was spilled by Cork goalkeeper Christopher Kelly, which McKenny took advantage of, making the score 1-8 to 1-6.
After a goal by Louth, Cork’s Chris Óg Jones scored two points, despite the team’s initial struggle with missing three wide shots. This brought the scoreboard back to a tie, all thanks to Eoghan McSweeney’s terrific save, assisted by McDonnell. The match seemed to be heading towards extra-time, until Lennon mustered the energy in the final moments, suffering a deep injury, and pushing Cork on the defensive to secure the crucial free kick.
The game-changing moment arrived, Mulroy stepped up and Louth created history.
Louth’s team comprised of Niall McDonnell, Dermot Campbell, Dan Corcoran, Donal McKenny, Bevan Duffy, Anthony Williams, Conall McKeever, Tommy Durnin, Ciarán Byrne, Conor Early, Ciarán Keenan, Craig Lennon, Ryan Burns, Sam Mulroy, and Conor Grimes. Substitutes were Paul Mathews, Leonard Grey and Liam Jackson.
Cork’s squad included Christopher Kelly, Kevin Flahive, Daniel O’Mahony, Tommy Walsh, Maurice Shanley, Rory Maguire, Matty Taylor, Ian Maguire, Colm O’Callaghan, Ruairí Deane, Mark Cronin, Brian O’Driscoll, Brian Hurley, Chris Óg Jones, Steven Sherlock. Substitutes were Thomas Clancy, Eoghan McSweeney, Seán Powter, Conor Corbett. The referee for the match was Noel Mooney from Cavan.