Patrick Kelly: Cork are growing in confidence ahead of mouthwatering trip to Croke Park
Cork midfield duo Ian Maguire and Colm O’Callaghan were exceptional against Roscommon. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile
If we rewound the clock to before a ball was kicked in 2025 and asked ourselves 'what does success look like for the Cork footballers this year?' what would we have said? So often we can get lost in the intensity and immediacy of the championship and base all reviews off when it comes to an end. Was it abrupt or expected? Performances matter of course, but at the end of the day, GAA is still analysed in binary terms; did we win or lose? Did we advance or were we eliminated? Games and championships are analysed starting at the end point.
Cork’s league campaign ended with four victories and three defeats. If just one of the defeats to Down, Monaghan or Roscommon had been victories, Cork would have won promotion. However, just one further loss could have seen them relegated down to Division 3. Cork finished where they have done in recent years: mid-table. About what we would have expected, although probably flirting more with relegation than promotion throughout the campaign. All in all, an average league campaign.
Despite the drama of the Munster semi-final against Kerry, the Munster championship went as expected. A comfortable victory over Limerick before Kerry eked past Cork after extra-time in a thriller in Páirc Uà Chaoimh. Cause for optimism heading for the group stages.
Cork were unlucky to draw Kerry again as their home game which left two ties which were as close to 50-50 as they come. Cork underperformed in Navan and were duly beaten. A winnable game and an opportunity lost. It all came down to Roscommon in Portlaoise for Cork to save their season and they obliged with a gutsy display.
It was as complete a Cork performance as I’ve seen against a team of a very similar level in a long while. Every metric of Cork’s game was impressive. Too often before one aspect of Cork’s play has cost them; sometimes kickouts, sometimes scoring efficiency, sometimes turnovers, sometimes defensive solidity. In Portlaoise on Saturday, everything was solid. Despite losing more of their kickouts (only winning 12 of 26), there wasn’t any stage where it felt Cork lost more than two in a row; the cluster kickout didn’t become an issue. Cork countered with another impressive kickout press of their own winning 14 of 24 of Roscommon’s restarts. Cork’s size around the middle eight makes their aggressive press a challenge for any team.
The style of play in the first half in particular should be lauded. On several occasions Cork players made great use of the kick pass to inject pace into counter attacks. This shows signs of a team growing in confidence. Croke Park this Saturday could be the perfect stage to continue this expression of skills. Sean McDonnell was impressive, bringing his scoring prowess with Mallow to the fore for the first time at senior level. Mark Cronin operated as the playmaker to great effect; sniping for three scores from play with great cutting runs off the shoulder. The midfield duo of Ian Maguire and Colm O’Callaghan were exceptional in all aspects of their game. O’Callaghan showed great leadership in the second half, kicking two from play. Later, another of that All Ireland U20 winning team of 2019 stepped up with Cathail O’Mahony putting over what turned out to be the decisive score.
The only blip for Cork was that final 15 minutes. Paul Walsh put them five points up but they would score only once more from O’Mahony. They started playing passively in possession and found themselves making mistakes and handing momentum to Roscommon. To their credit, they kept their discipline and forced Roscommon to shoot from distance, a skill they so badly lacked with several long-distance efforts missing the target.
Victory this weekend over Dublin would see Cork into the quarter-final stages for the third time in four years; yet very few would consider Cork a top eight team. In 2022, the qualifier draw was kind with home wins against Louth and Limerick before a heavy defeat to Dublin. 2023 saw the introduction of the group stages and two wins from three. Their reward was a home tie to Roscommon and they produced a gritty win before losing an arm wrestle to Derry. Last year’s preliminary quarter-final loss to Louth was a deflating end to a season that promised so much after Cork stunned Donegal in Páirc Uà Rinn. Of the three most recent seasons only 2023 can be seen as a year where Cork outperformed expectations.
I am convinced that in the coming years Cork will push on in championship and become a team capable of making All Ireland semi-finals again. That, however, won’t happen without first making a push for promotion to Division One and showing their credentials over a six-month period. In the past four league campaigns Cork have started so poorly that relegation was the topic for discussion after round three or four. This must change for Cork to move back up to the next level.
For now, attention turns to the Dubs in headquarters on Saturday; a mouthwatering challenge. Stephen Cluxton has shown again in recent games that his radar is as accurate as ever. Cork’s aggressive kickout press will test him and Dublin. They need to hammer the hammer to gain a foothold. On the flip side, Dublin will go after the Cork kickout in a big way. With Peadar O’Cofaigh Byrne as the primary fielder and the likes of Brian Howard and Ciarán Kilkenny hovering, they are an imposing side to look out to. Daniel O’Mahony marking Con O’Callaghan should be box office.
The reaction in Portlaoise at full-time shows how much this means to the group. Plenty of them have soldiered for a long time and anybody who has been lucky enough to live that experience knows the toll that takes both physically and emotionally. To keep coming back for more is not easy. They crave success. Most will see this Saturday’s tie as a step too far and would be happy for Cork to make it a contest. This Cork group have had their fill of hard luck stories and what ifs; careers slip by in the blink of an eye. Saturday is time to make a statement.
