BEFORE TAKING ON the miles spread out before his group by road and sky, John Cleary busied himself this week by taking care of the inches.
When the Cork footballers return from their travels to Derry for Sunday’s crunch Division 2 clash in Celtic Park and their subsequent four-day warm weather training camp in the Quinto De Lago resort in the Algarve next week, they will edge up the less travelled tourist road from Ballintemple to Boreenmanna Road.
Cleary has requested Cork’s critical penultimate round meeting with Kildare be moved a couple of Stephen Sherlock kicks from Pairc Ui Chaoimh to Pairc Ui Rinn.
In one of many lessons absorbed from his team’s perfect start to the season, the Cork manager has learned that love and luck are not just bedfellows by chance.
It is 12 years since the Rebels managed to start the season with four straight wins – excluding their brief stay in Division 3 back in 2020 where given the company they were keeping a winning streak was to be expected rather than be deemed exceptional – but the first step was the biggest one.
If there has been a constant in the narrative of Cork’s failure to end their exile from the top division – now in its 10th season – it has been their capacity to trip themselves up before they even get started.
Last year’s win over Meath was their first opening round victory in eight attempts while in Division two, and even though it was still not enough, had they lost to Cavan this time they would almost certainly have been scuppered immediately.
With the road trips north to Derry and Tyrone at the back end of their schedule, any slip up early would have been fatal, which is exactly how it was shaping up.
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Seven points down with less than 10 minutes remaining in Pairc Ui Chaoimh, they blitzed their visitors to score eight on the bounce and when dishing out the credit, Cleary fingered the arrival of some accidental supporters for the main event to cheer on the hurlers against Waterford.
‘When the crowd came in, coming down the home straight, you know, it definitely was a help,’ said the Cork manager.
It is by the by, but in terms of a Sam Maguire county, Cork must be the only one who are reduced to being thankful to a flash crowd for a fringe benefit.
However, the sense is the dial is moving; after road wins against Louth and Offaly, a crowd in excess of 6,000 came calling of their own free to the much more intimate Pairc Ui Rinn – the game was only moved there because of pitch maintenance in Pairc Ui Chaoimh – which rocked at the thrilling finale against Meath last weekend..
The visitors were awarded a point for a conversion that had more the smell of a two-pointer about it and a red-shirted hand appeared to touch the ball on the ground in a late scramble that would have cost another point, but perhaps because of a deafening din, Cork benefitted from a couple of border home ground calls.
Call it luck or call it the by-product of some love.
Those were the inches in a two-point game, but it is the miles that have got them here.
Go back to that first round and it was a couple of arrivals from the bench that gave the latecomers something to cheer about.
Most obviously, Sherlock, who would kick two two-pointers, the winning one from a free which he drew from a foul as he attempted to spear one over from play at the death.
That Sherlock is the best kicker in Cork has never been the question, fitting him into a team and game where kicking was only one element of a multi-skill set that needed ticking certainly was.
His timing to sit out last season when the game was redesigned to suit his eye and boot was mystifying and ever so costly. It would hardly be a stretch to suggest that had he been available last summer, Cork’s 14-year wait for a Munster title would be over. In an epic semi-final against Kerry they had the chances but not just the finishers, kicking nine wides in extra-time, while the Kingdom kicked zero.
Whether he starts or not, he provides Cleary with a game-changing option but, even more importantly, fleshes out an attack that has now got a mix of shooters, dynamic line-breakers and goal finishers.
Dara Sheedy also came on against Cavan for his first appearance and had a seismic impact in that final quarter which dwarfed the single point he kicked.
Close your eyes and think of a Cork attack and most likely it is of a set-up lateral play that will only find some form of incision with an explosive off the shoulder run from deep.
The Bantry youngster is different, his instinct is to go direct early and often, engage his marker and slice into space.
Oh, and he can score too, racking up four from play last weekend. Add in Mark Cronin’s long-range shooting, speedster Chris Og Jones instinct for goals, Brian Hurley’s established credentials, Sean McDonnell and Brian O’Driscoll’s ability to convert from outside the arc, and the perception of the Cork attack being one that sticks the O’Neills up its jersey and runs like the devil is more than a little outdated.
They are a team with far more cutting edge to them this season, albeit still some way from the finished article.
In a three-way promotion race they are out in front but not over the line. Failure on those two trips north and even if they do make the most of the home comforts against Kildare, it is not beyond reason that promotion could come down to a scoring difference. Cork have been winning, but not winning big.
While their attack has evolved, questions remain how effective they are at stemming the bleeding at the other end. Derry, even with a defeat, have a vastly superior scoring difference primarily because they have conceded four points less per game, while Meath have the bonus of playing whipping boys Offaly in the final round.
In short, to be certain of getting it done, Cork could really do with a result this weekend.
It is hardly beyond them.
It was the last time they met; the 2023 All-Ireland quarter-final which Derry won by 1-12 to 1-8 in a game long lost to the GAA’s equivalent of the dark net, unlikely to only ever be downloaded by some repressive regime as a weapon of cruelty to be inflicted on unfortunates forced to watch on the loop.
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The start still haunts. Cork held the ball for three minutes, passed it 60 times, back and forth, until finally Sherlock squeezed off a shot under heavy pressure that went wide. It was met with some half-hearted Derry cheers and a few silent Cork groans.
Back then Cork had neither a game nor a team they could cheer.
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Cork football has a game and a team they can cheer in promotion bid
BEFORE TAKING ON the miles spread out before his group by road and sky, John Cleary busied himself this week by taking care of the inches.
When the Cork footballers return from their travels to Derry for Sunday’s crunch Division 2 clash in Celtic Park and their subsequent four-day warm weather training camp in the Quinto De Lago resort in the Algarve next week, they will edge up the less travelled tourist road from Ballintemple to Boreenmanna Road.
Cleary has requested Cork’s critical penultimate round meeting with Kildare be moved a couple of Stephen Sherlock kicks from Pairc Ui Chaoimh to Pairc Ui Rinn.
In one of many lessons absorbed from his team’s perfect start to the season, the Cork manager has learned that love and luck are not just bedfellows by chance.
It is 12 years since the Rebels managed to start the season with four straight wins – excluding their brief stay in Division 3 back in 2020 where given the company they were keeping a winning streak was to be expected rather than be deemed exceptional – but the first step was the biggest one.
If there has been a constant in the narrative of Cork’s failure to end their exile from the top division – now in its 10th season – it has been their capacity to trip themselves up before they even get started.
Last year’s win over Meath was their first opening round victory in eight attempts while in Division two, and even though it was still not enough, had they lost to Cavan this time they would almost certainly have been scuppered immediately.
With the road trips north to Derry and Tyrone at the back end of their schedule, any slip up early would have been fatal, which is exactly how it was shaping up.
Seven points down with less than 10 minutes remaining in Pairc Ui Chaoimh, they blitzed their visitors to score eight on the bounce and when dishing out the credit, Cleary fingered the arrival of some accidental supporters for the main event to cheer on the hurlers against Waterford.
‘When the crowd came in, coming down the home straight, you know, it definitely was a help,’ said the Cork manager.
It is by the by, but in terms of a Sam Maguire county, Cork must be the only one who are reduced to being thankful to a flash crowd for a fringe benefit.
However, the sense is the dial is moving; after road wins against Louth and Offaly, a crowd in excess of 6,000 came calling of their own free to the much more intimate Pairc Ui Rinn – the game was only moved there because of pitch maintenance in Pairc Ui Chaoimh – which rocked at the thrilling finale against Meath last weekend..
The visitors were awarded a point for a conversion that had more the smell of a two-pointer about it and a red-shirted hand appeared to touch the ball on the ground in a late scramble that would have cost another point, but perhaps because of a deafening din, Cork benefitted from a couple of border home ground calls.
Call it luck or call it the by-product of some love.
Those were the inches in a two-point game, but it is the miles that have got them here.
Go back to that first round and it was a couple of arrivals from the bench that gave the latecomers something to cheer about.
Most obviously, Sherlock, who would kick two two-pointers, the winning one from a free which he drew from a foul as he attempted to spear one over from play at the death.
That Sherlock is the best kicker in Cork has never been the question, fitting him into a team and game where kicking was only one element of a multi-skill set that needed ticking certainly was.
His timing to sit out last season when the game was redesigned to suit his eye and boot was mystifying and ever so costly. It would hardly be a stretch to suggest that had he been available last summer, Cork’s 14-year wait for a Munster title would be over. In an epic semi-final against Kerry they had the chances but not just the finishers, kicking nine wides in extra-time, while the Kingdom kicked zero.
Whether he starts or not, he provides Cleary with a game-changing option but, even more importantly, fleshes out an attack that has now got a mix of shooters, dynamic line-breakers and goal finishers.
Dara Sheedy also came on against Cavan for his first appearance and had a seismic impact in that final quarter which dwarfed the single point he kicked.
Close your eyes and think of a Cork attack and most likely it is of a set-up lateral play that will only find some form of incision with an explosive off the shoulder run from deep.
The Bantry youngster is different, his instinct is to go direct early and often, engage his marker and slice into space.
Oh, and he can score too, racking up four from play last weekend. Add in Mark Cronin’s long-range shooting, speedster Chris Og Jones instinct for goals, Brian Hurley’s established credentials, Sean McDonnell and Brian O’Driscoll’s ability to convert from outside the arc, and the perception of the Cork attack being one that sticks the O’Neills up its jersey and runs like the devil is more than a little outdated.
They are a team with far more cutting edge to them this season, albeit still some way from the finished article.
In a three-way promotion race they are out in front but not over the line. Failure on those two trips north and even if they do make the most of the home comforts against Kildare, it is not beyond reason that promotion could come down to a scoring difference. Cork have been winning, but not winning big.
While their attack has evolved, questions remain how effective they are at stemming the bleeding at the other end. Derry, even with a defeat, have a vastly superior scoring difference primarily because they have conceded four points less per game, while Meath have the bonus of playing whipping boys Offaly in the final round.
In short, to be certain of getting it done, Cork could really do with a result this weekend.
It is hardly beyond them.
It was the last time they met; the 2023 All-Ireland quarter-final which Derry won by 1-12 to 1-8 in a game long lost to the GAA’s equivalent of the dark net, unlikely to only ever be downloaded by some repressive regime as a weapon of cruelty to be inflicted on unfortunates forced to watch on the loop.
The start still haunts. Cork held the ball for three minutes, passed it 60 times, back and forth, until finally Sherlock squeezed off a shot under heavy pressure that went wide. It was met with some half-hearted Derry cheers and a few silent Cork groans.
Back then Cork had neither a game nor a team they could cheer.
They do now.
*****
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