THE provincial football championships have now been put to bed. And the show moves on, quickly. Attention is all on the latest version of the All-Ireland series that throws in this weekend.

My own take on the new format – and bear in mind that we speak from experience in Cork as this system was used for a couple of years before the group system was introduced – is that it is another fudge by the GAA.

A better fudge than previous iterations, admittedly, but a fudge nonetheless.

If you look at team sports around the world, there are essentially three systems that make for good competitions. 1. League systems, most prevalent in soccer, 2. Group stages with knockout rounds to follow (NFL, AFL, the Champions League, the old Heineken cup in rugby and the current Cork club championships being prime examples) or 3. Straight knock-out systems.

So, if the action feels decidedly underwhelming this weekend, you know why.

Our own clash with the Royal County and games like Kerry v Donegal and Tyrone v Roscommon are intriguing to an extent, however when there is a safety net in place, it absolutely does detract from the excitement and interest.

While we are not quite at the same place as the hurling, where Cork and Limerick could meet five times in one season (six if you include the Canon O’Brien Cup), the footballers of Cork and Meath are becoming very familiar foes. There have been several meetings in recent years with success for both sides, however the most recent two contests between the teams are the most relevant.

On February 22nd, at the same Páirc Uí Rinn venue as this weekend, just over 6,000 people created a great atmosphere for a highly-competitive Division 2 league meeting between two teams chasing promotion back to the top flight. Cork produced one of their best performances in recent years and were leading by six points late on when captain Ian Maguire was sent off for an off-the-ball incident. Going down a player is of added significance under the new rules, as the days of pulling 14 players behind the ball and trying to play on the break are now gone.

Meath rallied and almost reeled Cork in only for Luke Fahy to produce a brilliant block in the final minute to deny Meath a late winning goal. Cork hung for what was a deserved win.

Prior to Maguire’s sending off and the late withdrawal of Colm O’Callaghan, Cork had won the midfield battle on the day and the running game of Dara Sheedy and Chris Óg Jones in addition to the accuracy of Mark Cronin, Steven Sherlock and Sean McDonnell was enough to give Cork a cushion to render Meath’s comeback futile.

Fast forward just over a month to March 29th when the sides renewed acquaintances in the far more salubrious expanses of Croke Park in the Division 2 league final. Forward duo Sherlock and Óg Jones were outstanding in the opening 40 minutes of the game and Cork led early in the second half on the back of their exploits, before the tables turned completely in the midfield battle and Meath pairing Jack Flynn and Bryan Menton took over in this sector.

The main issue for Cork was Meath’s dominance of the Cork kick-out, and the failure to gain enough possession from his own restarts cost Patrick Doyle his starting place for the championship openers against Limerick and Tipperary. His replacement, Micheál Aodh Martin, had two mixed outings in those games and thus Doyle earned a slightly surprising recall for the Munster final in Killarney. The second half of that one again saw Cork cleaned out on their own kick-outs, so the issue is not going away.

The goalkeeper position has changed hands multiple times this year alone so we wait with interest to see who will get the nod for Saturday. It’s distinctly possible that Martin could come back in, but the kick-out issue goes beyond just the goalkeepers. Ian Maguire and Colm O’Callaghan are both good players, however Cork are far too reliant on them to win primary possession.

Doyle did get some kick-outs away at times against Kerry, mostly to the No. 7 pocket, however when Cork are forced long, the likes of Paul Walsh, Sean McDonnell and Ruairi Deane will need to assist the midfield pair in the air and on the ground. David Buckley made a positive impact during his short time on the pitch in Killarney and the Newcestown man is a fine fielder who could be a bolter for this contest.

It is not known at the time of writing if Dara Sheedy and Brian Hurley will be available and either or both would be big additions if they recover in time. Sheedy scored four excellent points in the league win over Meath as well as carrying the world of ball, and Hurley bagged a fine goal off the bench in the Croke Park defeat. Cork need all their options available to reverse that result.

It’s difficult to know how many changes will be made after Killarney, with the goalkeeper position looking like a toss of a coin. Doyle might have done just enough to get another start. In defence, Sean Meehan was withdrawn against Kerry, however his replacement, Sean Brady, departed injured not long after his introduction.

There is a place up for grabs and management could turn to Rory Maguire to add some physique to the defence against a sizeable Meath team. Tommy Walsh could move back to the full-back line, but Cork will need to give Daniel O’Mahony more support in his battle against Jordan Morris than they did against David Clifford. Meath have several scoring threats in the form of Ruairi Kinsella, Eoghan Frayne, Jack O’Connor and Jamie Conlan, who was electric off the bench in the league final.

This Meath team have been licking their wounds since their defeat to Westmeath in Leinster in the first round, but The Lake County have shown since that that performance was no flash in the pan. The Royals have been inactive since that defeat on April 19th, while Cork have had three games to tune up for this one. Killarney may not have been what we were hoping for, but Kerry are the top team in the country so Cork should not let too much negativity creep in.

The game on Saturday evening presents a big opportunity to gain back the momentum that was there in the league with the wins over Meath, Kildare and Tyrone. The game will most likely come down to Cork securing enough possession from the kick-outs, which I’m sure people are sick of hearing but is no less true for that fact.

I was positive with my prediction before Killarney and I was wide of the mark, but I will continue back this group. On home soil and hopefully with more than 6,000 people behind them, Cork can get the season back on track and earn a place in the winners section for round 2.

It won’t be easy and I’m expecting a right royal tussle, pardon the pun. Cork have caused Meath problems in defence every time they’ve got the supply. Of course, the reverse is also true, so all will hinge on the battle for the ball around midfield. I expect fireworks, and a Cork win. Just about. Up the Rebels.

***

Congratulations to Keith Ricken, Maurice Moore and the Cork minor football squad as a whole on their Munster championship success on Monday night. Cork wins at underage have become a very rare beast, so the celebrations were well earned. Cork controlled large periods of the game without making it count on the scoreboard, however I hope they can kick on from this win and be successful in the All-Ireland series.

Better weather conditions might help the forwards to show what they can do next time out, particularly if the midfield and defence continue to perform so well. Becoming competitive again at underage level is crucial for Cork football, and this was one step in the right direction. Good luck to them for the upcoming quarter-final.