ANOTHER day out for the Cork minor footballers in a year this group of players will remember.

Munster champions and five wins on the spin point to a strong season so far, but the bonds formed within the group are proving just as important for their development, with Keith Ricken the ideal man to guide them.

‘It’s hard for them sometimes to take the disappointment of not being in the team but they’re an exceptionally united bunch. If you walked into our dressing room, you wouldn't know who was playing and who wasn’t,’ Cork boss Ricken said.

‘Back training on Monday will be light but then Wednesday they’ll take lumps off each other again. They’ll push each other on for the next bit, knowing everyone’s performance will rise to standard for everybody.’

‘Calling out the team for the Meath game was very difficult for young fellas who felt they were going well – and they were going well – but didn’t get the chance. If we lost, that would have been that chance gone. It’s a special time at that age group. For me, a week is like a thousand years, as it’s written in the Bible. It does take a long time but for these young lads, it’s instant. The moment is now.’

An All-Ireland quarter-final is a massive occasion in sporting terms, but before the Meath clash some players were also dealing with Leaving Certificate exams, highlighting the human side of their campaign.

‘I was thinking of Jacob Barry and Peadar Kelly. Both of them were sitting the Leaving Cert in the week leading up to the match. They were bound to be tired. It was going to be a different game for them. Peadar was coming into the game after having a heavy schedule the last few days. Jacob's schedule wasn’t so bad. We had three or four lads on our panel that we didn’t bring because they were in the middle of their Junior Cert,’ the Cork boss explained.

‘I have a young fella at home doing his Junior Cert and I have one doing the Leaving Cert so I know how energy-sapping that can be at times. We were watching that but they’ll be putting their hand up for next week because the exams will become more spread out. They're a lovely bunch of fellas to apply themselves and listen and a humble group.

‘Every day for the rest of their lives, they’ll pass Thurles and have fond memories of being here. Fond memories of playing with Cork. Fond memories of Páirc Uí Rinn and Tralee. That’s what this age group is about, developing a strong sense of feeling, because feelings and emotions are the currency we deal with,’ Ricken added.