Cork edge Tullamore thriller to survive in Division Two and send Offaly down

Offaly 1-20 Cork 1-21

A very relieved Cork played their get out of jail card as they retained their Division Two status with a dramatic win over Offaly in Tullamore on Sunday afternoon.

It was a sensational game of football, a real rip-roaring tie between two sides who tore into each other with everything they had. It had everything – great honesty and commitment and a sequence of scores that just took the breath away.

It was a championship type tussle on an excellent pitch with the sun beaming down and a large attendance creating a great atmosphere, especially in the second half when it entered the melting pot.

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Cork were the better team for plenty of it but Offaly launched an all-out assault with 20 minutes to go and it almost gave them a famous victory. Offaly needed the win to stay up and they were in pole position when they led by 1-19 to 1-17 with five minutes left but Cork got four of the closing five points for the win.

The visitors could have had the game in the bag early on. They hit Offaly with everything they had from the throw-in and led by 1-4 to 0-1 after 11 minutes. The goal came from Cathal O’Mahony in the second minute and Colm O’Callaghan had two other chances but opted to take his point.

Offaly settled down after this with team captain Johnny Moloney rallying his side. They were 1-6 to 0-5 down after20 minutes, 1-7 to 0-6 behind after 25 minutes, but two points from man-of-the-match Steven Sherlock (one free) put Cork 1-9 to 0-6 ahead after 31 minutes. An Anton Sullivan penalty goal and a super Bill Carroll point brought Offaly right back into it and another point from the rampant Sherlock gave Cork a 1-10 to 1-7 half-time lead.

Three more points from Sherlock, two excellent scores from play, put Cork 1-13 to 1-7 clear after 40 minutes and it was impossible to envisage a way back for Offaly. They showed great character, however, digging deep and four in a row made it 1-13 to 1-11 after 45 minutes. John O'Rourke and Brian Hurley put Cork back in front but Offaly threw caution to the wind.

They threw the kitchen sink at Cork and had it back to a point after 51 minutes. They got back on level terms, 1-16 each, before Mattie Taylor edged Cork back in front in the 57th minute.

In a great spell of pressure, Offaly got four in a row to lead by 1-19 to 1-17 inside the last 10 minutes. It was 1-20 to 1-19 in Offaly’s favour as it went into injury-time and Cork just survived.

Cian Kiely edged them in front and they got the winner from a Sherlock free after Paddy Dunican was penalised for a kick-out infringement, stopping the ball from going over the line after a defender returned a short kick-out to him. It meant that Offaly had to get a goal and there was no way through a massed Cork defence.

OFFALY: P Dunican (0-1, free); K Dolan, J Lalor, N Darby (0-1); L Pearson, D Hogan, C Doyle; C Donoghue, J Hayes; D Hyland, R McNamee (0-2), B Carroll (0-3); J Moloney (0-1), N McNamee (0-7, two frees, twoo marks), A Sullivan (1-3, 1-0 pen).

Subs: C Flynn (0-1) for Pearson (23 mins), K O'Neill (0-1) for Donoghue (40), M Abbott for Hyland (50), C Donnelly for Doyle (55), B Allen for Sullivan (68).

CORK: M Martin; K O'Donovan, K Flahive, T Walsh; R Maguire, J Cooper, M Taylor (0-1); Ian Maguire, C O'Mahony (1-1); D Dineen, E McSweeney, C O'Callaghan (0-2); Stephen Sherlock (0-9), J O'Rourke (0-3), B Hurley (0-3).

Subs: B Murphy (0-1) for McSweeney (47 mins), C Kiely (0-1) for Flahive (52), M Cronin for O'Mahony (53), B Hartnett for Dinneen (59), F Herhily for O'Rourke (69).

Referee: Niall Cullen (Fermanagh).