Cork football: Maurice Shanley's goal could yet define their season

WERE these the moments the Cork footballers' fortunes finally took a positive turn?

Down 0-8 to 0-6 at the break and 0-16 to 0-14 after 66 minutes in last Sunday’s must-not-lose Division 2 showdown away to Fermanagh at St Joseph’s Park in Ederney, the pendulum finally swung.

At that juncture, the writing that had been appearing on the wall since the start of the Rebel’s misfiring league campaign was visible once again. John Cleary’s side’s failure to convert four clear-cut goal opportunities looked set to consign the visitors to a fourth consecutive National League defeat. One goal chance spurned for every loss?

Obituaries were being written, relegation permutations analysed and Tailteann Cup competition rules downloaded before the Cork footballers finally, finally caught a break.

Fermanagh’s Shane McGullion broke through Cork’s rearguard and found himself in a one-on-one situation with Éire Óg’s Chris Kelly.

BRILLIANT

You could imagine the thought process racing through McGullion’s mind. Do I fist this over the bar and give us a three-point lead deep into injury-time or do I go for it and put the final nail in Cork’s coffin? Thankfully, McGullion chose the latter only to watch his goal-bound attempt brilliantly repelled by Kelly.

Within 60 seconds, Cork worked the ball to the opposite end only to raise the green flag they had been chasing for more than one and three-quarter games.

Maurice Shanley is a defender by trade but popped up around the Fermanagh square deep into injury time. He emphatically punched the ball into the net.

That moment elicited a collective roar, both on and off the pitch, from the Cork representatives that had ventured north. You could almost sense the relief being lifted from the shoulders of a collective group, players and management combined, that have been under the cosh for the past month.

There was still work to be done and, as per usual, Cork made life difficult for themselves before eventually triumphing by the slimmest of margins, 1-14 to 0-16.

Ok, it was far from pretty but when you are searching for your first National League win of the season, you’ll take it. Whatever way it comes.

Make no mistake, as significant as this victory over Fermanagh is, there is still a huge amount of work ahead of Cleary. Cork are a long way off claiming that all-important top four Division 2 finish and removing the need to qualify for this year’s All-Ireland series by instead beating Limerick and Kerry in the Munster Championship.

So, for the interim at least, can we cut the Cork senior footballers some slack, please?

They have been on the receiving end of non-stop negativity due to failing to register a point since the start of the campaign. True, a lot of that criticism was justified but this is a Cork setup determined to stick to their manager’s process.

Apart from the first day out against Donegal, the Rebels lost close games to Louth and Cavan, failing to score a goal, before finally being rewarded for ‘sticking to the process’ and getting over the line against Fermanagh.

The bus home from Ederney will have been a hell of a lot more enjoyable than the Ballybofey and Ardee journeys. Cork’s senior footballers are not out of the woods but for today at least, John Cleary can afford himself a smile.