Goulding: Return to Division 1 has to be Cork football’s focus next season

DANIEL Goulding likes what he sees in the current Cork football team.

The 2010 All-Ireland winner, like all Cork fans, wants the Rebels to be back challenging for football’s top prizes, but understands too that this is a process that will take time.

Cork’s performances in the All-Ireland series, as they reached the All-Ireland quarter-finals, were a marked improvement on recent years and offered hope for the years ahead.

There were back-to-back wins against Division 1 teams Mayo and Roscommon, a victory away to Louth, a narrow home defeat to All-Ireland champions Kerry before Ulster kingpins Derry proved a step too far in an All-Ireland quarter-final.

‘What I like about that Cork team, they’re very workmanlike, there are no egos there, they all get on with their job and it was a very pleasing thing to see,’ Goulding told The Southern Star.

‘Tommy Walsh is now the go-to man to shut down the marquee forward and has done immense as has Maurice Shanley. The future is bright.

‘The defensive system, bar the two or three man-markers, is dependent on everyone knowing their role or defending spaces as opposed to one-on-one battles, so it was great to see that.

‘I think Steven Sherlock in the games he came off the bench was outstanding. Colm O’Callaghan and Ian Maguire have formed a very good partnership in the middle of the field. Colm’s really got up to the pitch of playing inter-county football and had a very good year. Rory Maguire similarly, from an attacking sense he’s definitely taken off since the group stages. To be fair, everyone to a man has stepped up.’

Cork defender Rory Maguire has impressed Daniel Goulding this season.

John Cleary’s end-of-season report will include Cork reaching the All-Ireland quarter-finals after finishing fourth in Division 2 of the Allianz Football League; that campaign laid the foundation for what followed in the championship.

‘A good league overall, Cork got some consistent team play. They didn’t change too much for the whole year, they kind of got their first 12 or 13 starting players identified and I think that suited them coming into the All-Ireland group stages,’ Goulding explained.

‘In the All-Ireland series, they got into Kevin Walsh’s style of play and everyone that had a role benefited from it. For the future, you’re hoping that next year will be the one where they push on and get promoted. Cork need to be in Division 1 to be able to compete in the latter stages of the championship in the coming years. I think they have the panel to do so now as well.’

Goulding also pointed to Cork’s positive response after losing the Munster SFC quarter-final away to Clare in April, as they hit the ground running in the All-Ireland round-robin stage. The run came to an end against Derry, a 1-12 to 1-8 loss which many, including Goulding, put down to tiredness.

‘The five games with only a week off probably caught up with them. They were a small bit flat and didn’t have the energy to break down Derry’s blanket. At the same time though, they battled away, brought it back to one but the (Conor Doherty) goal knocked them for six then,’ the Éire Óg clubman said. 

‘They didn’t throw in the towel, they kept at it right until the final whistle. It was a positive year overall, back in the top eight and getting into Division 1 should be the big focus next year if they want to set themselves up for becoming a regular in Croke Park whether it be the final eight or maybe further,’ Goulding said.

Coach Kevin Walsh, brought on board by boss John Cleary, made a big impact in making Cork a hard team to beat. While defensive football might not be great on the eye, former Rebels forward Goulding was impressed with one particular aspect to their gameplan.

‘What I did like as the year went on was when they turned the ball over, they broke at great speed. You would have seen it especially against Mayo and Roscommon. There’s no denying that being more defensively sound has given us more of a chance of winning games so it's a necessary evil in my mind,’ Goulding explained.

‘Like all projects down the years, you see the Derrys, the Donegals of this world get their defence right. You have to do that before you can refine the attack. I think Cork are well on their way to that and I have no doubt Kevin will have plans up his sleeve to become more dangerous in an attacking sense next year.’

Looking towards 2024, promotion from Division 2 is a must in Goulding’s book, as is another good championship campaign.

‘It’s not an easy thing to get to a quarter-final every year and that’s what you’re striving to achieve. Given the players that we have, I think you would want to be in a Munster final next year,’ he stressed. 

‘You want to be playing Kerry in the Munster championship, albeit if it's a semi-final, but if they’re waiting in the final, you definitely want to be in a Munster final against them. Getting out of the group stages (of the All-Ireland) and into the knockout stages is where Cork need to be. After that, it comes down to who you draw, injuries, etc. That’s the bare minimum of where Cork needs to be.’