John Cleary on facing Louth: 'We want to silence the crowd'

Cork boss John Cleary has said his team are ready for a big battle with Louth this weekend.

The Rebels meet the Wee County in Drogheda for their second game in the Allianz Division 2 Football League on Sunday at Integral GAA Grounds with a start time of 1.30pm.

Both teams come into the game on the back of victories first day out with Cork defeating Cavan at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh while Louth got the better of Offaly away from home.

Louth are looking for a third successive home league win over Cork in the recent history following on from victories over the Rebels in 2023 and ’24.

“Wherever we would be playing Louth, they are the reigning Leinster champions,” Cleary says.

“We have met them a good number of times over the last three or four years and it has always been very close. It will be a big, big challenge, but one we are looking forward to.

“We will try to get up there and give a good account of ourselves and see where it goes from there. The bottom line is that Louth are a very good team.

“They are very passionate about their football in Louth. They do get behind their team, so that’s another part of the challenge.

“We will embrace it and hopefully we can perform and silence the crowd and get a victory up there.” 

Cork are looking to win their first two games of a league campaign in the top two divisions for the first time since 2015 on Sunday. Backing up the win over Cavan is now the test for the Leesiders to see if they can find consistency.

“There will be twists and turns in this league,” the Castlehaven clubman said.

“Not many people expected Kildare to go up to Tyrone last weekend and get a draw. A lot of people were thinking that Derry would beat Meath and they lost. Even the Offaly and Louth game was very close going into the last 10 minutes.

“It’s a very even league, sometimes it’s a break of a ball or a bit of luck. I would expect this weekend to be exactly the same. I am just hoping we can get the breaks up in Louth.

“Our plan is to win the game. I am sure Louth have the same plan. They will be targeting this given they are at home. We have got to make the long journey and we know what we are facing. Louth are a formidable team.” 

The Leesiders' performance was patchy against Cavan down the Páirc, but Cleary reckons it will be a different ball game this weekend.

“We were playing on a summer pitch last Sunday, the ball was bouncing and some supporters maybe underestimated Cavan. They were only one point off being in Division 1 last year. They have some very good players and they showed that against us. It was never going to be easy.

“They had us on the ropes. We just didn’t panic and we chipped away and got our scores.

"Someone told me that the game lasted 84 minutes between stoppages and everything. That’s mentally tiring and physically tiring on players.

“You have got to use the bench as wisely as you can and to get the utmost out of it and we got a kick from the bench the last day.”