Cork have maintained their Division Two status at Offaly’s expense after edging a tense relegation battle in Tullamore.
The result means that Offaly drop to Division Three and there will be no place for them in the qualifiers this year, unless they reach the Leinster final.
Having led by six points early in the second half, Cork were reeled in by the home side, who led by two points with five minutes remaining.
Cork drew level in injury time through Brian Hurley and though Ruairi McNamee restored Offaly’s lead, Cian Kiely and Stephen Sherlock kicked the last two points to ensure that John Maughan’s side join Down in Division Three in 2023.
Sherlock's winner, from a free, came in somewhat bizarre circumstances as Offaly goalkeeper Paddy Dunican played the ball rather than let it go for a 45 after it had been inadvertently kicked back to him from his own kickout.
Cork effectively laid the foundation for the victory in the opening minutes of the game. They might have had a goal straight from the throw-in though Colm O’Callaghan fisted a point instead, but Offaly were wide open and Cathal O’Mahony turned Lee Pearson to slot to the net in the third minute.
It gave Cork a cushion that they maintained throughout the first half when playing against the wind.
Offaly were reliant on speculative efforts and though Johnny Moloney, Niall McNamee and Bill Carroll kicked fine points from distance, they were struggling to fashion chances close to the Cork goal.
A pair of Sherlock points approaching half-time saw Cork’s lead stretch to six but Offaly halved it after Anton Sullivan converted a 35th minute penalty when McNamee had been hauled down by Kevin Flahive, who was black-carded for the offence.
Offaly pared it back to two but Sherlock completed the first half scoring with his fourth of the day as Cork led 1-10 to 1-7.
They kicked the first three points of the second half to double their advantage but four without reply from Offaly, two of them from Niall McNamee, hauled them back into it.
Carroll drew the sides level for the first time in the 56th minute and Offaly drove on from there, with goalkeeper Paddy Dunican putting them in front and Sullivan tagging on another.
But Cork kept their composure and, backed by the breeze, pulled level and, after the sides swapped points, went in front with that late Sherlock free.
Scoring difference meant that a draw was no good to Offaly in injury time and they sought the goal that would save them in vain as Cork held on.
OFFALY: Paddy Dunican (0-1f); Kieran Dolan, Lee Pearson, James Lalor; Colm Doyle, Declan Hogan, Niall Darby (0-1); Cathal Donoghue, Jordan Hayes; Dylan Hyland, Johnny Moloney (0-1), Bill Carroll (0-3); Ruari McNamee (0-2), Anton Sullivan (1-3, 1-0 pen), Niall McNamee (0-7, 0-2m, 0-2f).
Subs: Cathal Flynn (0-1) for Pearson (21), Keith O’Neill (0-1) for Donoghue (41), Marc Abbott for Hyland (51), Ciaran Donnelly for Doyle (55), Bernard Allen for Sullivan (69).
CORK: Michael Martin; Kevin Flahive, Kevin O’Donovan, Tommy Walsh; John Cooper, Rory Maguire, Mattie Taylor (0-1); Ian Maguire, Colm O’Callaghan (0-2); Daniel Dineen, Eoghan McSweeney, John O’Rourke (0-3); Stephen Sherlock (0-9, 0-4f), Cathal O’Mahony (1-1), Brian Hurley (0-3, 0-1m).
Subs: Blake Murphy (0-1) for McSweeney (48), Cian Kiely (0-1) for Flahive (53), Mark Cronin for O’Mahony (53), Brian Hartnett for Dineen (59), Fionn Herlihy for O’Rourke (70).
REFEREE: Niall Cullen (Fermanagh).
