Cleary: You don’t need to be a genius to know this is a very important game

CONSIDERING the games that lie in wait for Cork and Louth, little wonder both will have targeted Saturday’s clash in Navan as their must-win match.

With three teams to emerge from each of the four groups in the All-Ireland senior football championship, one win would boost a county’s chance of advancing to the knockout stage.

Both Kerry and Mayo – All-Ireland kings and Division 1 champions respectively – will be fancied to beat Cork and Louth, so the latter duo know the importance of Saturday’s tie at Páirc Tailteann (3pm): this is their must-win game if they want to progress. Pick up a result against the other two and that’s a bonus.

‘Call a spade a spade, we are playing a Division 2 team, like ourselves, in the first game and then we play the All-Ireland champions and then we play the Division 1 league champions,’ Cork boss John Cleary told The Southern Star.

‘You don’t need to be a genius to know this game is very important to us, and it’s the same for Louth. It would take the pressure off if we were to get over the line.

‘It’s going to be a tough battle but we are hopeful we can put our best foot forward against a team that will tactically be well set up. I know they were well beaten by Dublin, but in the first half they had 50 percent of the play. It won’t be easy.’

Cleary also mentioned Cork players looking for revenge after their Division 2 league loss (1-10 to 0-10) to Louth in Ardee, a game where the Rebels let victory slide through their fingers having been five points up in the first half. While that was a setback, Cork’s Munster SFC exit to Clare in Ennis knocked Cleary’s men to the canvas. A game they were expected to win, albeit against a Clare side that had no fear of Cork, the Rebels didn’t hit the levels needed, and were beaten. It left Cork having to pick up the pieces and build again for the All-Ireland senior championship.

‘This year I have been new and Kevin Walsh has been new, and we were trying different things. Some worked, others didn't. We are a work in progress,’ Cleary said.

‘The Clare match was disappointing. After a few days licking our wounds everyone realised there is another competition to get ready for. While we haven’t forgotten the Clare match it was put to one side. We took a lot of learnings from it, and we need to put those into action on Saturday. This is another championship starting and we’ll review the Munster championships at the end of the year. Right now we need to focus on what’s ahead, it’s the 16 best teams in the country.’

Group 1 exploded into life last Saturday when Mayo went to Killarney and beat the locals by five points. It means Kerry will travel to Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday week (3pm throw-in, live on GAAGO) with no points and looking to kickstart their All-Ireland title defence. In an ideal world, Cork will have two points on the board by then, and to achieve that they need to rediscover their best form for Saturday’s trip to Navan.

Cork’s league campaign was a mix of ups and downs, but did peter out after a loss to Louth and home draw against Derry in the final two games. With the championship loss to Clare following, Cork haven’t won since their league victory away to the Banner County in early March, so now would be a good time to return to winning ways. The availability of Brian Hurley is a boost to the Cork attack, but much more is needed from everyone given the performance against Clare last time out.

Don’t underestimate Louth either. They see this as their winnable game, too, despite boss Mickey Harte trying to play down their chances.

‘I suppose every other team in the group will be saying we’re the winnable game so Cork will be saying we’re the winnable game. That’s understandable. We played them in the league, of course, but they were missing a few players that day and we got a result,’ Harte said. This is a Louth team that finished above Cork in the league and contested the Leinster football final. They beat Westmeath (had trailed by eight points) and Offaly (after extra time) before losing to Dublin, but they did ship big scores in all three games – 1-11, 2-15 and 5-21. They don’t know when they are beaten, so if Cork get a lead on Saturday, like they did in the league encounter, they can’t allow Louth back in.

As Cleary says, you don’t need to be a genius to know this is a very important game, but you also don’t need to be a genius to know that Cork need to bring their A-game. Otherwise it could be a long few weeks ahead.