WE have much to cover again this week, reviewing Cork’s escape to victory against Cavan and looking ahead to the trip to Louth this weekend, while also touching on some wider points from a busy weekend of national league action. First stop – Sunday afternoon in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

We won’t dwell on the first half for too long, other than to say it was a back-and-forth encounter where both sides found their scores relatively easy to come by. Neither defence was capable of exerting enough pressure on their opponents as Cavan kicked the first three points before Cork responded in kind. A Cavan goal from the outstanding Dara McVeety (wearing No 6 but stationed in the full-forward line) had Cavan noses in front before a three-point burst from Brian Hurley gave Cork a two-point lead at the break, 0-14 to 1-9.

The hope was that Cork would use those scores as the impetus to kick on after half time, but what we got was the complete opposite. Cavan controlled the next 25 minutes with Cork in disarray. Cavan’s defence upped the ante and tied up the Cork forwards, limiting Cork to two points in that timeframe, even when down to 14 for a black card to Ryan Brady. Brady’s namesakes at midfield, Conor and Ciarán (from Corofin, Galway), began to edge the midfield battle with Colm O’Callaghan offering the most resistance. McVeety continued to cause havoc with able assistance from Gearoid McKiernan and another set of Bradys, Oisin and the other Ciaran (from Arva) bombed forward from half-back to great effect.

McVeety placed the Arva Ciarán Brady for a second Cavan goal and full back Niall Carolan blazed over when put through not long after. Cork could not cope with the men in blue and fell seven points in arrears entering the last ten minutes. With the prospect of a winning start to a crucial league campaign looking remote, John Cleary turned to his bench. Matty Taylor, Dara Sheedy, Ian Maguire, Steven Sherlock and Maurice Shanley were all introduced at various stages in the second half. Belatedly, Cork began to get a run on a tiring Cavan.

Cork reeled off six points in a row, including a Sherlock two-pointer from play and a mark from Mark Cronin. That score was notable because Cronin was picked out by an excellent long kick pass from Paul Walsh, which was about the first time a Cork player went direct with a kick all game. Old habits die hard and Cork are still addicted to running the ball when kick passes are available. The lack of variety and inclination to run into the corners looking for players on the loop will only take Cork so far. Better teams than Cavan won’t let us off the hook as they did last Sunday.

Sherlock punished more tired Cavan fouling with a late two-point free to edge Cork ahead by a point and Cavan could not muster a response. Credit to Cork for the spirit to persist when the cause looked lost, to the subs for making an impact and to the management for making the changes, even if some of them might have been made sooner. That is where the credit runs out, though, as the performance went from average in the first half to awful for the majority of the second. A repeat of the same levels will not suffice against Louth this coming Sunday or anyone else in Division 2 for that matter.

Speaking of the Wee County, Cork’s trips to the border county have been less than fruitful in recent years, with the championship defeat of 2024 being the most forgettable of nadirs. Louth beat Offaly by five points in their opener and the reigning Leinster champions will be confident they can record another home win against the Rebels. Cork did win the reverse fixture last year with eight points to spare against a Louth side that was somewhat depleted and totally reliant on Sam Mulroy on the day. This game will likely be a much tighter affair.

Results over the weekend mean that Division 2 looks wide open and, therefore, the carrot for the winners here is to be right in the mix for promotion places even at this early stage. Changes can be expected on the Cork side and there are numerous players who will be worried about their starting positions. Rory Maguire hasn’t hit the heights of his debut season in 2023 and a change is necessary at No. 6. Tommy Walsh may be best placed to take over here, even if he didn’t set the world alight on Sunday either.

Sean Brady will have twisted blood from trying to chase the brilliant McVeety for an hour, and a change should really have been made in this position much sooner, but Brady probably deserves the nod to make some amends. It was no easy task for any defender, as a quality player was hit with quality ball, and Brady had little by way of support or cover. Brian O’Driscoll has not started 2026 as well as he did 2025, while Sean Walsh and Ruairi Deane were others who laboured against Cavan. Ian Maguire will start if deemed fit enough after his cameo on Sunday.

Bantry youngster Dara Sheedy was lively after his introduction but a start in a tricky contest in Ardee might be a big ask. David Buckley didn’t feature at all on Sunday but might come into the reckoning if a change is made at half-forward – he would bring added physicality and another long-range kicking option.

What is clear is that management are still of the opinion that it’s one of Brian Hurley or Steven Sherlock alongside Mark Cronin and Chris Óg Jones. There does not seem to be any inclination for them both to play together at this stage, at least.

Cronin was Cork’s best forward on Sunday and finished with seven points, with three from play plus the mark. Jones was far less conspicuous and got his only score during the late comeback but there was no natural replacement on the bench if Sherlock was always going to be a direct swap for Hurley. Their roles may be reversed this Sunday after Sherlock’s game-winning contribution from the bench. Cathail O’Mahony is fit and available and is another option if management want to make changes to the squad. Conor Corbett is still unavailable through injury.

It’s another big game for Cork and hopefully the scare received on Sunday will light a fire in the squad to up their performance levels from the start for this one. A repeat of the opening 60 minutes will end in nothing but defeat, so hopefully they can pick up where they left off and claim an important win and two points. It’s early in the season but the stakes are high, we’ll back our own to get the job done by a single point.

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I don’t often find myself agreeing with Kerry men when it comes to football, but Jack O’Connor and I are on the same page when it comes to the 50-metre advancement for players deemed to have not handed the ball back correctly for opposition frees. I have made this point several times, and I think I used the phrase ‘using a sledgehammer to crack a nut’ previously.

The main support seems to be from referees in that abuse towards officials has all but stopped, but they are two separate issues. Retain the 50 metres for abusing referees or opponents, no problem, but the deciding of games for innocuous, often ambiguous, indiscretion miles from goal is another complete madness. I’m with Jack on this one, and the jury is out on the hooter also. There will be plenty more controversy with that, I’m sure.