IN a season that has already exceeded expectations, Cork can tick another box this Saturday.

The Rebels haven’t won a senior football championship match at Croke Park since a 2013 All-Ireland SFC Round 4 victory over Galway, but they have an opportunity this weekend.

Facing Mayo in an All-Ireland SFC quarter-final at GAA HQ on Saturday (4pm, live on GAA+), John Cleary’s men can end that long wait for success in the capital.

Since 2013, Cork have lost eight championship games in Croke Park, including three under Cleary’s watch – against Dublin twice (2022 and 2025) and Derry (2023).

‘It’s definitely a different place to play in. The more times you play there, the more experience you get and the better chance you have of winning there,’ Cleary says.

‘We’ve had a few games there in the last couple of years and we haven’t got over the line. But that’s a bit immaterial now. All we want to do is beat Mayo, wherever the game is being played, and it happens to be Croke Park.

‘The prize is a place in the semi-final.

‘What’s most important to us is trying to beat a very good Mayo team. It’ll be difficult, but we're looking forward to the challenge.’

Cork also lost the Division 2 league final to Meath at Croke Park earlier this season, so there is a need to get back to winning ways there. In the aftermath of their superb away win against Donegal in Ballybofey in the last round, Cleary revealed that returning to Croke Park for the business end of the All-Ireland series was a target. Now they are there, they want this to be another stop on this journey, not the destination.

‘It was important to get back there,’ the Cork boss says.

‘We realised it was going to be difficult and people were saying the Donegal game might have been a step too far for us. But we decided to give it one good bash because the reward was getting last weekend off, which hopefully will stand to us this weekend. That was a big carrot for us.

‘Croke Park is where everybody wants to be. We got a taste of it last year against Dublin and then we were back there for the league final. Now we’re going there again.

‘The next thing is that we want to win there.’

The Castlehaven man, much like in his playing days, neatly sidestepped a question on whether this championship has opened up for Cork to make a real impact. With Donegal and Armagh both falling last weekend, two of the big guns are out before the last eight. Cleary doesn’t take the bait.

‘There’s an opportunity to win a match next weekend and that's all we're interested in,’ he says.

‘Where that takes us, it’ll take us there. But all we’re focused on is trying to get over the line against Mayo.

‘Everything else will take care of itself.’

He does agree that belief is growing in the squad. Earlier in the season they secured promotion back to Division 1 for the first time in a decade. They have now beaten Meath and Donegal, both All-Ireland semi-finalists last season, in back-to-back games. These are sit-up-and-take-notice performances.

‘There is belief, alright, but there's also the reality that every game in this championship is a tough game,’ Cleary says.

‘You’re seeing most games coming down to the last few minutes, being won by a point or going to extra time.

‘Once we got over the euphoria of winning in Donegal, by Wednesday we were in quarter-final mode. We had to be.

‘We’ll reflect on the Donegal game when the season is over. For now, it was about parking it, taking the experience from it and zoning in on the quarter-final. That's what we've been doing since the middle of last week.’

The return of Colm O’Callaghan, suspended against Donegal, is a boost. David Buckley (hip) is rated as a 50-50. Sean Brady should be available for Saturday, though this game could come too soon for Darragh Cashman.

‘He’s battling to be ready. He trained at the weekend, so he could be in the frame. We’ll assess him as the week goes on,’ Cleary said of Newcestown forward Buckley.

As for Mayo, they are on a high after a comeback win against Meath last weekend in Castlebar.

‘Look, they had a big win last weekend. They looked out of it in the first half, but in fairness they thundered into the game in the second half.

‘Before that they beat a very good Monaghan team and just got pipped by Tyrone.

‘Like ourselves, they’re in good form at the moment and it’ll be a big challenge. I'm sure they're looking forward to meeting us as well. Maybe they feel it was the draw they wanted.’

For Cleary and Cork, a win at Croke Park is what they want.