Cork football season in review: Playing style must evolve and fresh faces needed

THERE were some great moments in 2024 for the Cork footballers, such as Maurice Shanley’s late winner up in Fermanagh, another late show to beat Meath in Navan, and the brilliant win over Donegal on home soil.

Ultimately though, the year will go down as a bit of a disappointment, due to the manner of their exit from the championship at the hands of Louth last Sunday.

It was never going to be an easy task to win up in Inniskeen but to only score three points in the second half when the game was there for the taking will have left a bad taste in the mouth.

The exact moment that the air went out of Cork’s season was probably when Brian Hurley injured his hamstring in the lead-up to the Tyrone game in Tullamore.

The Castlehaven attacker was the fulcrum for the entire Cork attack in the victories over Clare and Donegal. He was missed in this regard against Tyrone, especially in the second half, when Cork lost their way as an attacking unit.

BLUNT

He did start against Louth, and lasted the whole game but did not look 100%, contributing only one point, as Cork unfortunately produced their most blunt display of the year.

It is hard to understand how John Cleary’s side went from the high of downing Donegal in Páirc Uí Rinn to going out of the championship after two defeats in the space of three weeks. Ultimately, Cork had two opportunities to book a quarter-final spot for the third year in a row, but they disappointingly came up short on both occasions.

From a squad development point of view, there were positives and negatives this year.

The likes of Colm O’Callaghan and Daniel O’Mahony have become two of the top players in their positions in the country, while Mattie Taylor, Brian O’Driscoll, and Chris Óg Jones are also really important to the Cork cause.

Tommy Walsh is in that category too, and his early injury against Louth was a huge loss.

In a way, Cork’s season can be encapsulated by how the year has gone for some of the young attackers that were expected to kick on in 2024.

Conor Corbett missed the first few rounds of the league but returned in time to help Cork move away from the foot of the Division 2 table.

But, by the time the championship came around his form had dipped, and he eventually found himself out of the team altogether, only coming on late as a sub for Mark Cronin last Sunday.

Cathail O’Mahony came on late on against Tyrone, but in truth, his year was a write-off. Blake Murphy looked a serious option at the start of the year, but he was gone from the panel by late February, while Newcestown’s David Buckley never got a look in.

You simply cannot see Cork making much further progress unless these kinds of players make the breakthrough.

Up front Cork got a deserved reputation as a team with a significant goal-scoring threat on the break from turnovers, but once the word on this got out, after the win over Donegal, both Tyrone and Louth just shut this avenue down, and Cork were not able to adapt.

Cork averaged only 12 white flags in their six championship games.

The points scored average in Division 2 of the league was a smidgeon better at 13.5. Cork have ambitions of becoming a Division 1 team again in the next year or two, but this is unlikely to be achieved until those numbers jump.

CONSERVATIVE

To achieve this the playing style will have to change.

The slow, conservative approach seen against Louth certainly will not cut the mustard. Sunday’s defeat felt like the end of something. 

One feels that by the time next year rolls around this Cork team will have a different look and feel to it.