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By John Coleman
Cork secured their promotion from Allianz NFL Division 3 with a sweeping victory over Louth this afternoon at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
The Rebels brought their spring form into fall in a dominant display that maintained their perfect record and sees them as champions, while Louth will play his Division 4 football in 2021.
Louth started most brilliantly with points from Sam Mulroy and Anthony Williams, but once Cork found his groove, Wee County had no response to his power and pace as the Rebels continually punched holes in his defense.
They scored 3-6 with no response after Louth’s initial outburst with Paul Kerrigan giving the final pass to Colm O’Callaghan and Ian Maguire for their goals before finding the net himself in the 23rd minute after good work from Maguire and Cian Kiely.
O’Callaghan also tapped on one point on that spell, as did Ruairi Deane, always ready, while Killian O’Hanlon and Paul Walsh kicked two each.
A Tommy Durnin point finally stopped Louth from rotting and the game was more competitive until halftime when Mulroy kicked four more free kicks for Louth. Durnin tapped for a second as O’Hanlon, Kevin O’Donovan and Damien Gore found their range as the Rebels gave them a ten point lead at halftime, 3-9 to 0-8.
Cork continued from where they left off after the break with two points from O’Hanlon and Gore before Kerrigan slipped goal number four at home after being set up by Deane. Louth’s problems were compounded when Fergal Donohue collected his second yellow card, but Mulroy continued to show his class, adding four more points to his personal tally.
Kerrigan then hit a free kick before being replaced by Mark Collins and Castlehaven’s man immediately made his mark, kicking 1-1 to leave Cork leading 5-13 to 0-12 when they broke for water.
The game came to an inevitable conclusion thereafter. Eoghan McSweeney and O’Donovan split the spots for Cork, Collins added four more points to his tally while Mulroy, Durnin and Conor Whelan found the target for Louth, who finished with 12 men after the incidents involving Patrick Reilly and Emmet Carolan .
Louth will play Down next weekend while Cork travels to Longford, although they can now afford to focus on their showdown with Kerry in the Munster semi-final.
Cork: M Martin; K Flahive, M Shanley, P Ring; K O’Donovan (0-02), M Taylor, C Kiely; Yo Maguire (1-00), P Walsh (0-02); R Deane (0-01), K O’Hanlon (0-04, 0-01 free), K O’Driscoll; D Gore (0-02), C O’Callaghan (1-01), P Kerrigan (2-01, 0-01 free).
Subs used: N Walsh for Ring (43mins), M Collins (1-05, 0-03fs, 0-01m) for Kerrigan (46mins), E McSweeney (0-01) for O’Driscoll (51mins), N Hartnett for Walsh (56mins) )), S Meehan for O’Hanlon (59 minutes).
Louth: C Lynch; D Corcoran, B. Duffy, K. Carr; F Donohoe, E Carolan, A Williams (0-01); T Durnin (0-03), L. Jackson; C Early, R Curran, C McKeever; P Reilly, S Mulroy (0-11, 0-10 free, 0-01 mark), R Burns.
Subs used: C Keenan for Curran (ht), J Cluttercuck, Carr (44mins), C Whelan (0-01) for Burns (51mins), D Campbell for Early (54mins), G Garland for McKeever (62mins).
Referee: S Mulhare (Laois).
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