Christy O'Connor: Cork footballers usually fare better against Ulster teams when pressure is off

BEFORE Cork arrived in Ballybofey for their first league game in January, the perceived difficulty of trying to win an opening round league game for the first time since Cork slipped into that division in 2017 was exacerbated by having to face a rejuvenated Donegal under Jim McGuinness so far away from home.

Reality matched expectation as Donegal hammered Cork by 11 points. 

The following week, Cork were on the road again, having to travel home pointless again, this time from Ardee in Louth.

Clocking up close to 1,500 km within the space of seven-eight days on the first two weekends of the league was always going to make this a difficult start, but the campaign has got a whole lot harder again for Cork after they lost to Cavan last weekend. 

And it doesn’t get any easier now with another long road trip on Sunday, this time away to Fermanagh.

The only place Cork can really find a way out of this mess is on the training ground, and in their post and pre-match analysis sessions, which they then have to transfer into the required performance on match day.

Cork though, still have to look everywhere possible now for confidence and positives and, while there is very little of that going around at the moment, they have to keep searching.

Removing the opening round game against Donegal, which Cork were never going to win in the context of it being McGuinness’ first league game back, Cork’s recent record on long away trips to Ulster is far better than the narrative suggests it is.

Apart from that Donegal match, in Cork’s previous five away games against Ulster sides (in Division 2) since 2017, Cork only lost one – against Derry in 2022. In those other four matches, Cork beat Armagh, Down and Derry away, along with drawing with Fermanagh in Enniskillen in 2019.

Some of that data may be only reaching. 

When Cork beat Armagh in the Athletic Grounds in their final game of the 2019 campaign, it counted for very little as Cork were still relegated to Division Three because Clare beat Tipperary the same day, which sent Cork down on the back of their superior head-to-head. 

Armagh, already safe in Division 2, had very little to play for, which showed in their performance.

Some of those other results though, were decisive for Cork, especially the win against Down in Newry in 2018, which effectively kept Cork in Division 2. Both sides ended up on the same points, but Cork survived on a head-to-head. 

If it had come down to points difference, Cork would have also survived as their six-point win in Newry gave Cork a marginally better points difference than Down.

CRUCIAL

Cork’s win against Derry in Derry in 2017 was also pivotal to their survival in Division 2 that spring as Derry – who finished two points behind Cork in the table – slipped through the trap door to Division 3.

In the midst of all the misery over the last few years, one of the great anomalies with Cork’s league results since they slipped down from Division 1 in 2016 is their positive performances against Ulster sides.

Prior to this season, Cork had played Ulster sides on 13 occasions in the league since 2017 and had lost just three times.

Cork won seven of those games, while they drew three more. 

Two of those wins came in Division 3 in 2020, against Down and Derry, but they were still crucial wins in the context of how that Division played out; Down were promoted in second, with Derry being squeezed out for promotion on points difference.

Cork did take a tanking from Derry in Owenbeg in 2022 while Donegal beat them by seven points in Páirc Uí Rinn in 2019. 

Yet Donegal were promoted that season, while Derry marginally missed out on promotion to Division 1 in 2022.

Similar to last Saturday afternoon, Cork also lost to Cavan in Páirc Uí Chaoimh in 2018 by three points but Cavan were promoted that season.

Does any of this matter now, especially when Cork have already lost to Ulster sides in two of their opening three matches? 

A win-rate of 62% against Ulster opposition across six seasons has suddenly plummeted to 53%. And the task doesn’t get any easier now with another Ulster side lining up to take on Cork on Sunday.

Prior to this year, why was Cork’s record so good against Ulster sides in the league? 

Was part of that down to there being less pressure, focus, or expectation on the Cork players when they went so far north?

There may be something in that because Cork often seemed to find it easier to win games against Ulster opposition they weren’t expected to beat than to secure wins against teams where they were often fancied to bag the two points.

CONFIDENCE

The problem Cork have now though, is that serial losing contaminates confidence to such a degree that every game becomes a pressure-cooker situation – irrespective of previous trends Cork may have sought to take confidence from.

Leaving trends aside, Cork’s biggest issue at the moment is their conversion rate, which is running at an average of just 49% in their last three matches.  In their last two games, Cork have had a combined 13 more shots than Louth and Cavan.

Cork need to polish their shooting but, with another long away trip to Ulster on Sunday, they also desperately need to rediscover that old habit of being able to dig out results in the north.