THIS Saturday will mark 133 days (19 weeks) since the first footballs were kicked in earnest in the Allianz National Leagues. It’s fair to say the serious business starts now, and not just from a Cork perspective.
Those commentators in the national media who continue to complain about a ‘condensed season’ would do well to consider how we can make better use of the ample time already allocated to the inter-county calendar, rather than trying to claw back more time from the clubs.
I’m not going to bang on about that one again, but even if the club season wasn’t a factor, heads need to be put together to shorten the amount of time given over to competitions that amount to little more than preparation for the main event – knockout All-Ireland championship games. That is exactly where we are this weekend, and none more so than for the Cork footballers.
The task is simple for Cork this Saturday in Portlaoise: beat Roscommon or go out. Defeat will mean a group stage exit and regression for the second season in succession after a quarter-final defeat to Derry in 2023 was followed by defeat against Louth a round earlier last year.
Surprisingly, Cork have been made slight favourites for this crunch Group 2 clash. Roscommon backers will fancy a little cut of their more generous price having beaten Cork by 14 points in Páirc Uí Chaoimh just over two months ago in Division 2, on their way to promotion while Cork laboured to fifth place, albeit just one point further back.
Looking at their results this season, Roscommon started strongly with wins over Down, Louth and eventual Division 2 champions Monaghan. Meath put a spanner in the works in round four before the Rossies bounced back with that statement win in Cork on March 1st. Roscommon then lost at home to Cavan before limping into a league final with a draw against relegated Westmeath. The league final saw a ten-point loss to Monaghan.
Roscommon enjoyed an easy victory in London before Galway ended their provincial ambitions, 1-14 to 0-11. Kerry were far too good in Killarney before a draw with Meath that saw them claw back a sizeable deficit before missing multiple opportunities in the closing stages to make Cork’s task this weekend much more difficult.
So, the form lines read like this since the conclusion of the league – Cork with one win (against Limerick) and three defeats (Kerry twice and Meath), against Roscommon also with one win (against London), two defeats (Galway and Kerry) and the draw against Meath. This is two struggling teams in poor form fighting for their lives, though the most recent head-to-head clash would make Roscommon the favourites in the eyes of most neutral observers.
That night in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Roscommon had both a game-plan and enough individual quality to put Cork to the sword, winning 2-21 to 0-13. Remarkably, of the team that accounted for Cork in March, only seven survivors started the recent draw with Meath.
Roscommon’s key men are well known to Cork football observers. Enda Smith is their talisman and was highly influential at midfield in the league encounter but was named at full forward for the Meath game and pilfered six points. Should he stay at 14, Daniel O’Mahony will relish going toe to toe with him as he has against David Clifford in recent games. However, if Smith moves out the field at any stage, it will be Ian Maguire’s responsibility to curb his influence. Smith’s brother, Donie, is another wily operator even if he was only sprung from the bench in the same game. Diarmuid Murtagh is a classy footballer who claimed seven points against Cork and matched that with 1-4 against the Royals last time out, even though he played deeper in that game.
Brian Stack in defence and Ben O’Carroll up front will be familiar to Castlehaven fans in particular after the All-Ireland club semi-final early last year and both are excellent players. O’Carroll accounted for 1-3 in the league game and bagged another goal against Meath.
The high turnover of players between the two games suggests issues with form and injuries, and manager Davy Burke may be tempted to turn to his tried and trusted for a crucial game if they are available. Conor Hand got six points in the league win over Cork but didn’t get off the bench last time out – the same was true for experienced Kerry import Conor Cox who didn’t see game-time.
There are decisions to be made too for the Cork management although the majority of the team that gave a decent account of themselves against Kerry can expect to retain their places. Micheál Aodh Martin made a huge error for David Clifford’s early goal but looks to have beaten off Chris Kelly and Patrick Doyle in the battle for the goalkeeper’s jersey. Sean Brady, O’Mahony and Maurice Shanley will likely be Martin’s first line of defence again, and whoever details O’Carroll will have to be on their toes.
Brian O’Driscoll and Matty Taylor will wear numbers five and seven, but the number six jersey would appear to be up for grabs. Sean Meehan started against Kerry but may come under pressure from the returning Rory Maguire, Luke Fahy or even Sean Powter. Ian Maguire, Sean Walsh and Colm O’Callaghan operated as a trio around the middle last time out and I don’t see that changing either for Saturday, while Paul Walsh and Sean McDonnell have done enough to retain the wing-forward berths.
Injury permitting, the inside trio of Mark Cronin, Brian Hurley and Chris Óg Jones will continue for this one having contributed 14 points between them against Kerry. Conor Corbett didn’t make the squad at all for the Kerry game so hopefully he has proved his fitness in the meantime to play some part. Corbett is a joker-in-the-pack style forward who can conjure goals from unlikely situations and that kind of impact may be needed in this do-or-die collision. Ruairi Deane will see game-time from the bench again, while Eoghan McSweeney, Cathail O’Mahony and Conor Cahalane are others who will be hoping to get the call.
Despite Cork’s heavy league defeat, the bookies are right that there isn’t much to choose between the two sides. After all, Cork did win the most recent championship clash just two years ago and only one point separated them at the end of the league campaign. Neither side will be brimming with confidence given recent results, so the opening exchanges may be nervy. Should either side manage to start strongly in this one and take an early lead, it could well be crucial. It looks to be a 50-50 contest on paper, and in those circumstances, you always have to back your own. Cork to win by a single point to secure progress to the final 12 and another away quarter-final.
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The Cork minors’ campaign ended with another comprehensive defeat (1-21 to 1-12) against a strongly favoured Tyrone team. A very poor start and finish to the game made Cork’s mid-game fightback ultimately redundant, even if Ben Corkery Delaney crashed in one of the goals of the season late in the first half. It’s lean times at underage level for Cork football and we badly need a root and branch stocktake of where we are falling so far behind at this stage.
Tyrone, Dublin and Kerry seem to be the benchmark at underage in recent years, but counties like Louth and this week’s senior opponents Roscommon are making strong impressions despite vastly fewer resources. A compare-and-contrast exercise with underage structures in all the counties currently leaving Cork behind in the younger grades would seem a worthwhile exercise for those tasked with safeguarding the future of Gaelic Football in the biggest county.
Some will believe that with patience and hard work, the tide will turn again, and they may be right, but the graph is trending badly in the wrong direction in recent years, so sitting back and hoping things will improve is not an option. One high-profile plan has expired, will there be an addendum to that same document?
Just because success hasn’t been immediate doesn’t mean you throw the baby out with the bathwater, there are good ideas in the plan. Continuation of what has worked and improvement on what hasn’t is what’s needed. The wait-and-see strategy isn’t sufficient in the modern world. The end of year review won’t make for pretty reading if the seniors don’t extend their season this weekend.
