John Cleary: Disappointing result, we just have to brush ourselves down and get ready for Kerry

Cork manager John Cleary said losing the midfield battle was costly in his side's defeat against Meath in the All-Ireland SFC Group 2 Round 1 encounter on Saturday evening.

The Leinster outfit prevailed 1-13 to 0-12 in Páirc Tailteann in what was a deserved victory for them. It puts the Rebels firmly on the backfoot in their pursuit of making the knockout stages of the Sam Maguire.

After such a gritty and sparkling performance in the narrow extra-time Munster semi-final defeat to Kerry five weeks ago, the Leesiders failed to come close to that kind of performance in this one. 

“It’s a disappointing result,” Cleary said post-match.

“If you take the first half first, we had a lot of the ball, but we had too many turnovers. There was a strong wind there, but the turnovers killed us. Meath then went down and got a goal and a couple of points before half-time.

“The second half, we came back and levelled it. Meath bossed the game though from there to the end. The game was there for the taking when it was level, but we didn’t take it. Meath stood up and won the game.

“Meath got to grips around the middle. That’s ultimately why I think they won the game. Possession was key, scores were at a premium out there. The weather turned terrible. Meath held onto their lead late on and managed the game better.” 

Cork don’t have time to feel sorry for themselves. Kerry come to SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh next Saturday for a 4.45pm throw-in time. The Kingdom will have an extra week's rest on Cork after hammering Roscommon over a week ago. 

“That’s maybe the reward for winning your provincial championship having a two-week gap between games," the Castlehaven clubman says.

“We just have to brush ourselves down and get ready for Kerry. They have blown everyone out of the water since we last played them and we were beaten today. We will prepare the same way as we did the last day. Hopefully we will manage things better than we did today against Meath.” 

In terms of injuries ahead of the Kerry game, when asked if Brian Hurley, Tommy Walsh and Conor Corbett would be involved in some capacity, Cleary was noncommittal.

“They aren’t too far off, but I don’t know and that’s being honest. We will know more during the week. Also, a few lads picked up knocks and bruises today, so we will have to assess everything. We will take it week by week.

“In these games, you have to be 100 percent fit. There were a lot of hits out there today.”