Footballers are Croke Park bound this Sunday
The ten year wait for a return to the top tier of league football is over and now John Cleary and his squad look forward to an early visit to HQ and hopefully a few more to come as the season evolves.
The ladies footballers complete their league programme content that they also have a final to look forward to, while two important camogie games are also scheduled.
Allianz NFL Division 2 Final
Cork v Meath on Sunday in Croke Park at 1.45pm
“Delighted for the lads they have worked so hard all year and this is just rewards for their efforts,” said manager John Cleary in the bowels of Healy Park Omagh after clinching promotion to Division 1.
It was a well deserved win over a Tyrone side that while they had very little to play for, really tested Cork at various stages of a good game.
The pleasing aspect of the win was the composure and control Cork showed when needed, especially when the home side look set to get a grip.
For Ian Maguire it’s the culmination of a tough campaign that saw them win 6 of their 7 games, 3 of them away from home.
“Yeah it’s been a tough division for the last few years as we found out to our cost, but this year we got the few breaks along the way, dug in when had to and now we get the reward.”
As for the final, “we will enjoy the trip home and then get ready for Meath and we saw the day we played them in Páirc Uí Rinn how good a team they are but it’s a final and getting to Croke Park early in the season is a huge boost.”
John Cleary expressed similar sentiments. “The priority all year was to get promoted and now that we have done that, we can prepare for a final which is an added bonus and we are looking forward to playing in Croke Park.”
John was in full agreement with his captain how tough Division 2 is and has been. “Some very good teams in it and remember we had 4 away games but in a way that helped the group bond and the character they have shown all year was evident out there again today.”
A few things fell their way and now as they prepare for the final, reflect back to the opening game against Cavan. They were 7 points down with about 10 minutes left, back they came and a brilliant 2 pointer by Steven Sherlock earned Cork the vital win.
Derry inflicted a heavy defeat on Cork in Celtic Park, they headed off to Portugal and then on return beat Kildare while on the same day, Derry lost to Louth which meant Cork were now in control of their own destiny.
Small little things can make the difference, but Cork put themselves in a position to make those little things relevant.
Meath’s only defeat was to Cork but they bounced back to win their remaining two games.
John knows that Sunday’s final will be another test: “We saw here how good they were when we played them and since then they have racked up big scores and they do have some very good players.”
In that game Cork were in control for long periods particularly in midfield where Ian Maguire and Colm O’Callaghan were dominant, then came the red card to the Cork captain and Meath thundered back into the match.
Yet, the Derry game apart, Cork remained calm and composed and got over the line, another crucial win.
Jordan Morris, Jason Scully, Bryan Menton, Cian McBride, James Conlon and Eoghan Freyne have all been excellent in their march to the final, and their tally in all games has been impressive, 12 players scored in the win over Offaly while of their total of 2-22, 23 of them came from play.
Cork have also been very effective in front of goal, with Sherlock, Mark Cronin, Chris Óg Jones and Sean McDonnell getting vital scores.
The Maguire and O’Callaghan midfield pairing has been crucial to Cork’s run with the Éire Óg player without doubt their most consistent performer.
At the back Luke Fahy, Tommy Walsh and Brian O’Driscoll have got among the scorers, while Daniel O’Mahony has been solid in the full-back line, a few important turnovers at vital times in Omagh.
The one advantage Meath will have is their familiarity with the surroundings of HQ, with their own ground in Navan been renovated they nominated Croke Park as their home ground for this year, a clever move given that all major games are played there at the business end of the season.
That though will not really worry Cork, they can go there in many ways with the pressure of enjoy the occasion but at the same time I would think the desire to win within the group is very strong.
For the experienced players, only 4 or 5 have played in Division 1, it’s an opportunity to claim silverware and set themselves up nicely for the championship QF v Limerick in two weeks.
It’s not going to be easy but it’s a game they are well capable of winning.
The match is live on C103 and the Onic Player.
One other observation from gaining promotion; under the new format for the Munster Championship and with the other 4 counties in divisions 3 and 4, Cork will now be on the opposite sides of the draw to Kerry for the 2027 and 2028 Munster championships, a nice little bonus.
Lidl Ladies Football National League Division 1
Cork v Dublin on Sunday in Parnell Park at 2pm
Joe Carroll’s side find themselves in the happy position that irrespective of the result here, they are already through to the league final v Galway in the Gaelic Grounds on Saturday week at 5pm, a repeat of the division 2 final of last year which Galway won.
Cork remain unbeaten and this is testimony to the development within the squad which was viewed as been in transition given how so many of the players that backboned their winning run are no longer involved.
Joe deserves all the plaudits going for what he and his management group have achieved in this league.
The manager has indicated that he may give game time to some players that might need it ahead of a busy championship season coming but also mindful that they would like to go into the final still unbeaten.
By contrast reigning All-Ireland champions Dublin are rooted to the bottom of the table with just 1 win and in danger of being relegated. Even a win might not save them as results elsewhere will have a bearing.
For Cork though they can travel to the capital in relaxed mood knowing they have a final to look forward and you know with that approach they could very well condemn the Dubs, just like their men’s team, to division 2 for next season.
Camogie
In the All-Ireland Minor Championship, Cork play Kilkenny in Castle Road on Sunday at 2pm where a win will see them into the QF.
They do also have the cushion of having beaten Limerick and Dublin who are also meeting on Sunday, so even if they lose, they should still advance.
In the Under 23 championship, Cork will look to put the disappointment of the narrow Munster Final defeat to Tipperary behind them when they begin their All-Ireland Championship campaign with a trip to Galway in a repeat of last season’s All-Ireland Final in which Galway won. It’s 2pm on Sunday for this game.
Munster Under 20 hurling
Having started the round-robin phase last night (Wednesday) with a meeting with Tipperary in Thurles, Cork will enjoy home advantage for their second game when Clare are visitors to SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh next Wednesday with a 7pm start.
Senior hurling
As expected, Cork eased into the Allianz National League Final with a comfortable win over a youthful but game Offaly side last Saturday night.
It sets up a final with Limerick in the TUS Gaelic Grounds on Easter Sunday at 4pm, with Clare and Dublin in the Division 1B Final at 1.45pm and already the GAA are coming under fire for the double header especially given the support that both Cork and Limerick generate. There were 20,000 last Saturday night for the Offaly match.
There’s no public sale of tickets and with the supporters of the first game set to leave immediately, it will see a lot of empty seats that I’m Limerick and Cork supporters would gladly fill.
It’s unlikely to be changed at this stage, so let the race for tickets begin.
Michael Lyster RIP
The news of Michael’s passing evoked tremendous sadness throughout the GAA world and beyond given that he was the face of ‘The Sunday Game’ for close on 40 years. The tributes have been heartfelt and well deserved for his professionalism and the presentation skills that we all enjoyed.
I had the pleasure of meeting him on a few occasions at All-Star functions and post-match All-Ireland Final banquets and he was such a nice and humble man.
Sincere sympathy to his family and former colleagues in RTÉ Sport at this sad time. May he rest in peace.