CORK did what they could to save themselves from relegation from Division 2 but ultimately their deserved win in Armagh wasn’t enough to stop them crashing through the trap-door.

After being Division 1 champions three years in a row from 2010 to 2012 and contesting a top-flight league final as recently as 2015, it’s been a downward spiral since and manager Ronan McCarthy doesn’t know if it will stop in Division 3.

“If people think there’s a short-term fix here they’re naïve in the extreme,” he claimed.

“This notion that we’re going to drop down to Division 3 and people are going to lie down and let us win matches, that’s part of our problem if we think that.

“We had to do our job first here today, obviously we were dependent on other results and the fact we were in that position was our own fault.”

As good an away win as this was in the Athletic Grounds in front of 3,425, thanks to goals from Brian Hurley (2) and Kevin Crowley, Cork’s failure to win at home is what cost them in the end. 

Clare were losing at half-time yesterday against Tipp, which coupled with a Cork victory would have kept the Rebels up, but the Banner dug out the result they required in the closing stages.

That meant it was too little, too late for their Munster rivals, who drop down along with Tipp. 

“We had four away games in the league and took five points out of eight - and none at home,” McCarthy said.

“That has been a trend so look, our home form has let us down. One home win would have done us.

“They do all the right things, they’re eager for success and we’ll keep working away with them. You keep working, keep developing our panel and it will come right. Every time the team goes out we want to win and play well, and they’re encouraged to do so, but we had a few poor performances when you look back.”