Colm O'Callaghan: Roscommon win could be a turning point for Cork football

A solid performance from Colm O’Callaghan helped Cork to a gritty victory over Roscommon on Saturday evening.

The Rebels knew only a win would do at Laois Hire O’Moore Park in the All-Ireland SFC Group 2 Round 3 encounter. They got over the line on a scoreline of 0-19 to 0-17.

Two splendid points from the powerhouse midfielder as well as doing his primary job in the middle of the field went a long way to securing a knockout spot for John Cleary’s team.

O'Callaghan was one of the best players on the pitch. Arguably, one of his best displays for Cork. 

“It probably wouldn’t be seen as a massive win outside of Cork,” he said.

“It’s huge for us because, I suppose, after the tough defeat against Kerry last time out, we were low and that was after we lost to Meath after putting in six weeks of training. The defeats did knock us back a small bit.

“Our performances weren’t bad, it was just the execution in front of the goal. We worked on it in training over the last two weeks or so. There were a lot of shots we were taking that maybe weren’t on.

“We were taking on the 30, 40 percent shots. But we just then focused on taking the shots that were kind of the 60, 70 percent ones. I suppose it paid off for the most part today. Our efficiency was much better. We were patient, composed and waited for the right opportunity. I felt we did deserve the win.” 

Coming into such a huge game where the backs were against the wall from a Cork point of view, the Rebels as expected came out fighting. It was a strong performance matched with a victory.

“There’s always that added pressure when it’s a knockout championship game,” the Éire Óg player says.

“That's what it was today, we had to win. It does bring the best out of us. The win does mean everything to us, definitely. It’s unbelievable. No words to describe it. We lost to Roscommon by 14 points in the league. We hadn’t forgotten about it. We had the training camp kind of straight after that when we kind of set a few things straight.

“This win could be a turning point for us and for Cork football in general. We are in the knockout stages now and we won’t fear anyone. It doesn’t matter who we play. It’s all about focusing on ourselves.

“We are after a knockout championship game today, so it will stand to us going forward. Every game now is do-or-die. It’s great to be still involved. We will give it a go next weekend in the preliminary quarter-final away from home and see what happens.” O’Callaghan concluded.