John Cleary 'happy enough' as Cork make a winning start to 2024

CORK football manager John Cleary was naturally a pleased figure after the Rebels defeated Clare in the first game of the 2024 McGrath Cup at Clarecastle last evening.

The Rebels led 0-4 to 0-3 at half-time, played in horrendous weather conditions with heavy rain and driving wind, but the Leesiders came good in the second-half helped by impressive cameos off the bench from the likes of Mark Cronin and Chris Óg Jones as Cork won on a scoreline of 2-14 to 0-8.

Luke Fahy and Seán Meehan got minutes under their belt with the defenders introduced midway through the second-half after both suffered serious injuries last season.

Darragh Cashman, on his competitive debut, was highly effective at wing-back, both defensively and moving forward, and the young Millstreet player also chipped in with two points.

“It’s great to come out of here and head back down the road with a win considering the weather conditions,” Cleary said.

“Clare set up very defensively and we found it hard to break them down and also we were against a strong wind in the first-half. It’s the first day out, we were rusty for quite a bit of the game, improved in the second-half and playing on an astroturf pitch is different even though it’s a brilliant pitch, lovely surface. We kept at it, never panicked and thankfully we got the job done in the end.” 

Despite Cork being aided by the wind in the second-half, Clare led 0-6 to 0-5 after 47 minutes, but Conor Corbett’s goal a minute later was a crucial score in the encounter according to the Rebels boss.

“It looked like it was going to be very tight right to the very end, but once Conor Corbett scored the goal the shackles came off us then. Clare set up with 15 players behind the ball and we found it difficult but once Conor got the goal we never looked back. It was the turning point in my opinion. But look, at the end of the day we got game time into a lot of guys there and that was very positive.

“That’s what the McGrath Cup is all about, trying out players and different systems and that’s what we did out there this evening. It’s the third day in January, but we know that performance wouldn’t do going forward. There were a lot of guys out there battling to get on the team and onto the panel and we have a good few lads to come back but overall a very useful exercise so we would be happy enough with it, even if we weren't that happy with the opening 40 minutes.” 

While there were many top performers, Cleary was full of praise for Cashman on his first competitive start for the seniors.

“Darragh was on the panel last year and he has come on leaps and bounds. He did very well with the Cork minors and U20s in the past. He's a work in progress but we as a management are very happy with the way he has applied himself over the close season and he has come back in great shape. Darragh is a very good player and he has a big future ahead of him.” 

Next up for the Leesiders is Waterford in Mallow Sunday week at 2pm in the next game of the McGrath Cup where a win would send Cork into the final, a competition they won last year.

“The Waterford game will be another useful encounter, giving players game time. It’s all in preparation for Donegal away in Ballybofey on Sunday, January 28, and we know that will be a different kettle of fish. We are happy with how things are going.” Cleary concluded.