Daniel Goulding: Cork will need to be patient and clinical against Louth

Former Cork footballer Daniel Goulding is confident the Rebels can hold their nerve when they meet Louth this weekend in the All-Ireland SFC preliminary quarter-final.

The sides meet on Sunday in Inniskeen in Monaghan with throw-in at 3pm and it will be live on GAAGO. A place in the last eight of the Sam Maguire is on the line and despite the loss to Tyrone last weekend by four points, the Leesiders have another chance of reaching the quarter-finals for a third year on the bounce.

“Cork and Louth over the past number of years have played each other and games have always been close,” the 2010 All-Ireland winner with Cork says.

“I assume John [Cleary] and the lads will be under no illusions that it’s going to be a big challenge and that they will have to be at the top of their game to win up in Monaghan. Louth are always sticky opponents. When we played them in 2007 in Portlaoise, I think we only won by two points. We were lucky to get out of there with a win.

“Louth have a strong footballing tradition. Mickey Harte brought them so far and Ger Brennan has taken over and he has got more out of them. The players have really bought into what Ger is trying to do. The Leinster final this year showed how hard it is to play against Louth. They were defensively very well set up, I know Kerry got a few more scores off them last weekend but Louth did lose one or two players since the Leinster final.

It’s going to be a big challenge for Cork and they will probably be playing against a blanket defence again and they will have to work to break it down.” 

Cork’s bouncebackability will be tested once more on Sunday after the four-point defeat to Tyrone last weekend which denied them a place in the quarter-finals. This crop of players have responded well to setbacks before but this is probably the toughest given that there are no more second chances. Knockout football.

“The players are well able to rebound and I have no doubt that they know what needs to be done against Louth,” Goulding said.

MATURING

“They lost the first three league games this season and then went on a great run. They lost to Kerry and responded by beating Clare and Donegal. The management and the players have come along together and matured enough together that they will have no issue in raising their performance this weekend.

“The lads have been on this trail for the last few years so they are well used to getting up for games after losses. This week would have all been about recovery and maybe a quick lesson learnt from the Tyrone game and then getting straight into preparing for Louth.” 

What do Cork need to do against the Wee County in order to defeat them for a third time in championship under John Cleary’s tenure as Cork boss?

“Cork will need to be patient with the ball,” the Éire Óg player says.

“They will have to take their chances and stop Sam Mulroy and a couple of others in the forward area. Sam can score from anywhere, both from play and frees. Cork will have to be focused. They are a great honest group of players in fairness. They know that they will have to play well to win this one. The element of surprise is gone from Louth. People know that they are a good team and Cork won’t take them lightly.

It will be a defensive game. Louth will try and limit Cork and the big thing is that Cork will just have to be patient and not to force things. 

"Cork will need to be clinical up front and disciplined in defence. I have no doubt Cork have the players to do all those things required to get the win."