Christy O'Connor: Cork footballers never make it easy for themselves or their supporters

It was more of a trickle on the O’Moore Park pitch at the final whistle compared to the tsunami of red on the Gaelic Grounds seven days earlier, but the sense of euphoria and elation amongst the Cork players and the small band of loyal supporters in the ground was just as authentic on Saturday evening in Portlaoise.

Cork ground out a win, repelling Roscommon’s late charge for a two-pointer that would have kept them in the championship and knocked Cork out. Yet the joy at the final whistle was also a celebration of Cork having won a first championship match against a Sam Maguire side in 54 weeks.

It's unknown if Diarmuid Murtagh’s late two-point effort would have been on target, or would have had the distance if Daniel O’Mahony hadn’t got a hand to it, but that’s how close Cork came to bowing out of the championship.

It would have been even more sickening again if that had happened considering the ascendancy Cork had found themselves in with 15 minutes remaining when a Paul Walsh score pushed Cork ahead by five points.

The score had originated from a Roscommon turnover when they had possession close to goal and Walsh’s score triggered the biggest Cork cheer of the evening prior to the final whistle. It looked like Cork would kick on and comfortably see out the match. But Cork never make it that easy for themselves or their supporters.

In the end, it came down to the finest margins. Aside from the London game, Roscommon had averaged 0-19 in the championship prior to Saturday. As the clock was ticking down, Roscommon had wind in their sails as they went after that 0-19 total to save themselves. And Cork just stopped them from getting there.

It was a solid and gritty performance from Cork, but it was largely driven by Ian Maguire and Colm O’Callaghan at midfield. As well as sharing 0-4 from play between them, the authority and composure of Maguire and O’Callaghan gave Cork the platform to push on and win the match.

Cork were also thankful to the steadiness of goalkeeper Micheál Aodh Martin late on. As well as making a fine save from Daire Cregg, Martin fisted a late 2-point effort out for a 45 after the ball had dropped dangerously under the crossbar as Martin was under incredible pressure on the goal-line.

Cork just found a way. The pressure from Roscommon was relentless as Cork hadn’t scored in 12 minutes when Cathail O’Mahony showed his class to put Cork two in front late on.

Cork’s conversion rate was a solid 64% in comparison to Roscommon’s 56%, but Cork could and should have been out of sight by half-time after creating three good goalscoring chances – they just didn’t take any.

Seán McDonnell had tried to place his kick in the corner in the 11th minute but he just overcooked his shot and the ball flew over the crossbar.

Maguire had two glorious goal chances in the 27th and 33rd but he couldn’t keep his shot down on both occasions. 

At least Cork got three points from those chances but the lack of polish on those finishes underlined the struggles Cork have had in front of goal all season.

GILT-EDGED

As well as having only scored one goal to date in this championship, Cork have now missed their last eight goal chances in their last two games. As the quality of the opposition goes up now, Cork certainly won’t keep getting away with that level of profligacy.

Maguire’s miss in the 33rd minute felt like a potential game-changer because Cork were completely in the ascendancy at that point and a goal would have put them six points up and completely in the box-seat at half-time.

Cork just never had control of the game because they couldn’t win enough of their own kickouts, losing 14 of their 26 restarts. Those struggles were obvious from the first whistle, but Cork were still dominant on the Roscommon kickout in the first half, winning six of Conor Carroll’s restarts and getting off six shots from that possession, which Cork translated into 0-4.

In fairness to Cork, their own kickout numbers did increase in the second half, winning nine of Martin’s restarts and turning that possession into a profit of 0-4.

Cork went into half-time with huge momentum having kicked the last five points of the half, but they struggled to get defensively set quickly enough on the Roscommon restart after the break, especially after Cork had scored.

Roscommon got two points in the third quarter immediately after Cork had registered points and Cork needed to try and get successive scores on the board to try and break that pattern and get away from the Connacht side.

Cork finally did with four unanswered points. Chris Óg Jones may not have scored in the game but his influence in that third quarter was decisive when he had three direct assists, was involved in another score, won a free and hit the post with a punched effort.

Mark Cronin’s impact in that third quarter was also critical when scoring two points and winning a free to help Cork move away from Roscommon.

The Connacht side just refused to go away and, while Roscommon nearly got enough scores on the board to get the result they needed, it was Cork who ultimately did enough to get the job done.