Cleary’s Cork face Leinster trio in opening Division 2 games

JOHN Cleary’s first full campaign as Cork senior football manager faces a testing start in Division 2 of the 2023 Allianz Football League, as the Rebels face the big three in Leinster – Dublin, Kildare and Meath – in their opening three games.

The arrival of heavy-hitters Dublin to Páirc Uí Chaoimh for a round three clash with Cork on Sunday, February 19th will create a buzz on Lee-side, but before that the Rebels will entertain Colm O’Rourke’s Meath in their opener on January 29th, before an away trip to Kildare on February 5th.

Cork’s Division 2 campaign is front-loaded with tough tests, including the Dubs’ first visit to Páirc Uí Chaoimh since a Division 1 tie in April 2012 that the home side won 1-12 to 0-12. After squaring off against the Leinster trio Cleary’s men have home games against both Limerick (February 28th) and Derry (March 26th), which sandwich two away matches to Clare (March 5th) and Louth (March 19th).

The Rebels have four home games in the league and will hope to make this count, as Cleary looks to build on the green shoots of last year’s championship campaign. Qualifier wins against Limerick and Louth, two of Cork’s Division 2 opponents in 2023, were book-ended by defeats to Kerry and Dublin. After the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final loss to Dublin in the summer, then interim boss Cleary highlighted how the league will be a stepping stone for Cork football. ‘At the moment we are a mid-to-lower Division 2 team, and that’s what the results have shown,’ the Castlehaven man said.

‘Hopefully going forward, the idea is to get up to the top of Division 2, and then maybe ultimately try and get into Division 1. The next level that Cork need to get to is that, try and get up to the top of Division 2. And hopefully that can happen over the next couple of years.’

Cork’s 2023 Division 2 football fixtures are as follows: January 29th – Meath (home), February 5th – Kildare (away), February 19th – Dublin (home), February 26th – Limerick (home), March 5th – Clare (away), March 19th – Louth (away), March 26th – Derry (home).