Cork held out to edge out Louth by 1-19 to 1-17 in Navan this afternoon to get their All-Ireland senior football championship round-robin campaign off to a winning start.

Experienced attacker Brian Hurley led the way for the Rebels with 0-8 over the 70 minutes while Brian O’Driscoll bagged their goal during the first-half of what was a thrilling encounter.

O’Driscoll’s strike came in the 15th minute and it saw the Tadhg MacCarthaigh clubman into a 1-3 to 0-3 lead and the point of captain Hurley, Sean Powter and Ian Maguire would send Cork towards a 1-8 to 0-7 advantage at the break.

Mickey Harte’s men made a decent restart as the points of ace attacker Sam Mulroy and Tommy Durnin kept them in contention ahead of substitute Liam Jackson made the most of a poor kick-out to find the Leesiders’ net.

Leonard Grey levelled the game with a sweet score in the 55th minute ahead of Mulroy steering the Wee County in front three minutes later before John Cleary’s side steadied the ship.

Hurley (2) and O’Driscoll registered points that were key down the home stretch and John O’Rourke and Conor Corbett would do likewise in the added minutes to ensure the Munster side’s victory.

All Ireland Senior Football Championship Group 1 Round 1 @MunsterGAA @louthgaa #SportsDirectIreland #BorntoPlay #RebelsRising
Full time
Cork: 1-19(22)
Louth: 1-17(20) pic.twitter.com/Laemh3Vdrx

— Cork GAA (@OfficialCorkGAA) May 27, 2023

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