Christy O'Connor: Cork footballers have solid record away to Ulster sides as they prepare for Cavan

With the last kick of the 1967 All-Ireland football semi-final, Cavan captain Charlie Gallagher had a chance to level the match but his free from 50 metres tailed agonisingly wide and Cork won by one point.

It was heartbreaking for Gallagher who kicked 0-8 in that match. When asked years later about his greatest disappointment, Gallagher didn’t hesitate in nominating that 1967 semi-final.

“This was one game,” he said, “that Cavan should have won.”

Despite Down having arrived like a juggernaut in 1959, and going on to win three All-Irelands and six Ulster titles in the 1960s, Cavan were still a real force back then, winning the other four Ulster championship in that decade.

After beating Down in the 1967 Ulster final, Cavan were hotly fancied to reach the All-Ireland final until Cork halted their charge. Cavan felt that a couple of poor calls went against them, with Cork getting a penalty they felt aggrieved over, while also having a more legitimate penalty call of their own turned down.

“We should have got a penalty that we never got,” recalled Steve Duggan in the book ‘Charlie: The Story of Charlie Gallagher, the GAA’s Lost Icon’. “Cork got a penalty that they shouldn’t have got. Someone pushed Peter Pritchard and he fell on the ball and they gave a penalty. It should’ve been a free out.”

Decades after that defeat, the disappointment and anger still lingered with those Cavan players, which was evident in that book. The pain was even more acute because the memory of the 1945 All-Ireland final defeat to Cork was still fresh in Cavan minds.

Cork were regarded as outsiders against a Cavan side who had dominated their province for over a decade without adding an All-Ireland title. But Cork turned them over by four points in that final.

None of that is relevant to Sunday’s key match between the counties but Cavan football is so richly enveloped in history and folklore that many of the home supporters will still be keen to remind Cork of how aggrieved they still feel about the past. And for some of those who still harbour hurt over 1967, this represents the perfect opportunity for some form of redress and payback.

This is a massive game for Cork but it’s equally as big for Cavan, whose victory against Roscommon on Sunday has given them a shot at promotion back to Division 1.

Cork were impressive against Louth but they still have work to do. They’re not under the same pressure a defeat against Louth would have brought, but they still need a result of some sort against Cavan to make absolutely certain of safety and a place in the Sam Maguire.

MORE PRESSURE

Down may still finish below Cork but they at least have the safety net of a guaranteed spot in the All-Ireland after winning last year’s Tailteann Cup, which increases the pressure on Cork now to come away from Cavan with something.

Cork will be drawing on every positive going, especially their league record on the road in Ulster over the last two decades. In the last 20 years, Cork have played 23 games on the road in Ulster, winning 12, drawing three and losing nine. 

That’s only a win rate of 52% but getting a result in 15 of 23 games on the road in Ulster is still a positive.

Cork’s recent record on long away trips to Ulster is also far better than the narrative suggests it is. In Cork’s last seven away games against Ulster sides (in Division 2) since 2017, Cork only lost twice – against Donegal last year, and against Derry in 2022. In those other five matches, Cork beat Armagh, Down, Fermanagh and Derry away, along with drawing with Fermanagh in Enniskillen in 2019.

Overall Cork’s record against Ulster sides in the league in the last eight seasons is positive. 

In that time, Cork have played Ulster sides on 17 occasions and have lost just four times. Cork won nine of those games, while they drew four more.

They will lean on that record again now but Cork will also take huge confidence from having been able to consistently dig themselves out of tight spots in the latter half of the league over the last four years.

In 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025, Cork have got results in defining league games against Westmeath, Offaly, Fermanagh and Louth. “The lads know they have to perform on Sunday and get a result,” said John Cleary last week. “Hopefully they can draw on past experiences from the last couple of years.” 

TOO MUCH EXPECTED

Cork did again on Sunday but it’s still frustrating that they have continually found themselves in this position. On the other hand, was too much expected of the team this spring?

After having failed to win promotion in recent years, it was unrealistic to expect Cork to go up this year when eight players stepped away from the panel at the outset of the season, and with key players still struggling with injury.

The manner of the Roscommon defeat was a hammer-blow but Cork were bound to get a bounce from their subsequent work on a warm-weather training camp in Portugal. 

And the momentum and belief from Sunday’s win should infuse Cork with even more confidence again now on Sunday to win another high-pressure game in the latter stages of the league.

Cork will need every bit of that confidence and belief. Especially when the atmosphere in Breffni Park will be hot.