Promotion but no league prize for Louth

April 1997

AFTER winning promotion from Division 2, there is no further joy for Louth when they are beaten 1-12 to 0-11 by Cork in a National League quarter-final in Portlaoise.

It is the first time the Reds reach this stage since defeat to Meath in Croke Park in 1988.

The only goal of the game arrives in the fifth minute. Stephen O’Brien, selected ‘on the forty’, but moved to full-forward, gets in behind Gareth O’Neill and is picked out by Colin Corkery.

As O’Brien prepares to shoot from point-blank range, he is hauled down, and Corkery converts the penalty which follows.

Louth stay in touch at 1-0 to 0-3, before the Leesiders account for six points on the bounce to go clear by the 23rd minute.

Points from Pat Butterly and Colin Kelly give Louth a little hope at the break, down 1-6 to 0-5.

Another pointed free by Butterly early in the second half further reduces the deficit, but Cork extend the advantage with three points on the spin from the boot of Corkery, 1-9 to 0-6.

At the three-quarter hour mark the Paul Kenny-managed outfit again manages to get within a goal of the leaders (1-10 to 0-10), but no closer, with Corkery then adding two more points.

John Donaldson finishes the Louth scoring in front of a 6,000 crowd, most from the north-east.

Afterwards, Kenny says Cork were the better team, and admits his own side was ‘at sixes and sevens’ during the middle period of the first half.

Corkery heaps praise on his Nemo Rangers clubmate Stephen O’Brien.

‘When he plays like that, there are not too many able to stop him,’ the man of the match points out.

Cork: Kevin O’Dwyer; Ronan McCarthy, Mark O’Connor, Eoin Sexton; Ciarán O’Sullivan, Niall Cahalane, Martin Cronin (0-1); Damien O’Neill, Liam Honohan; Michael O’Donovan, Stephen O’Brien, Brian Corcoran (0-2); Ollie O’Sullivan (01), Colin Corkery (1-7), Aidan Dorgan (0-1). Subs., Seán Óg Ó hAilpín for Honohan, John Buckley for O. O’Sullivan, Mark Farr for O’Connor.

Louth: Niall O’Donnell; Nicky Malone, Gareth O’Neill, Ray Rooney; Gerry Curran (0-2), John Donaldson (0-1), Stephen Melia; Séamus O’Hanlon (0-1), Ken Reilly; Alan Rooney, David Reilly, Colin Kelly (0-1); Stefan White (0-2), Cathal O’Hanlon, Pat Butterly (0-4). Subs., Ollie McDonnell for A. Rooney, Brendan Kerin for D. Reilly, Alan Doherty for Butterly.