'Cork footballers have improved and are going to give Division 2 a real rattle this year'

John Cleary has tended to pick teams to hit the ground running in the McGrath Cup.

There was a five-goal victory over an experimental Kerry outfit in 2023, a 12-point win over Clare in 2024, and, after a year’s break, they returned to McGrath Cup duty on Tuesday with a 19-point blowout against Tipperary at Cappawhite.

The Castlehaven native’s hand was somewhat forced when it came to team selection due to a clash with MTU, UCC, and UL’s Sigerson Cup games the following evening. Still, any debutants were reserved for introduction off the bench as an experienced side went about their business.

What emerged was a mismatch between a powerful and cohesive Rebel unit and a rebuilding Tipp team harder hit by their absent college cohort.

Most impressive about Cork was their attitude. They shook off Tipp with a 1-4 spurt inside four minutes. 

While leading by 11 at half-time, they kept the foot down to rattle off 15 points in the second half, only easing off at the end of stoppage time.

Cork had taken their first three shots before Tipp got possession of the ball for the first time. Even then, the Rebels’ high press forced the hosts back from the 65 to their own 21, where Mark Cronin’s intense tackling earned an overcarrying free.

The Nemo man’s sense of urgency to take a solo-and-go rather than a routine free was rewarded when Chris Óg Jones laid off for Ruairí Deane to palm over the keeper. The captain for the day had 1-1 to his name by that juncture on his first start since 2024.

Their next point, through Seán Walsh, also came from an advanced turnover on the opposition 45. 

That conditioning gap made it difficult for Tipp to break through the lines against a tuned-in Cork side.

With a chunk of Sigerson players to return, a tally of 13 different scorers from play highlights the competition within Cleary’s group. They were able to get off shots without absorbing too much pressure, which was reflected in their 79% conversion rate. 

CLINICAL

In the second half, Cork nailed 14 of 16 shots. The two-point kicking was just as pleasing with Seán McDonnell, Cathail O’Mahony, Mark Cronin, and Rory Maguire launching over four successes among five attempts.

Incidentally, Cronin’s orange flag originated from a disputed free, which was signalled for a 4v3 breach. However, the replay showed that the correct call was made, albeit a long delay before the whistle was blown meant that Tipp’s forwards had returned to position.

When Cleary called upon his subs, five worked the umpires with points from play. That included one from Steven Sherlock on his return to the Rebel panel and a debut point for Denis O’Connor.

The scoring was evenly spread as plenty of players advanced their causes. 

McDonnell showed some clever movement from centre-forward to yield 0-6 from play, including a two-pointer, in just 46 minutes on the field.  Two of those white flags could’ve been green as the Mallow man twice blazed just over the crossbar. 

His tackling also forced an overcarrying free, which was taken quickly for Luke Murphy’s goal chance.

Colm O’Callaghan executed the Gaelic football version of a perfect hat-trick with his point-taking; slotting one off his right, one off his left, and one with his fist in quick succession.

Cronin scored 0-4 in his 46-minute stay, but it was his count of 0-6 in assists which was most eye-catching, plus his secondary assist for the goal. Corner-back Kevin O’Donovan raided forward to feed his clubmate for two white flags.

Wing-back Luke Fahy was pulling strings right to the end. He finished with 0-4 in assists, plus drawing the foul for a pointed free.

Murphy almost had a first-touch goal after being introduced at half-time, palming over from Conor Cahalane’s pass across the posts. The Cullen attacker assisted 0-3 thereafter.

Fellow half-time sub Darragh Cashman saw ample possession to tee up points for McDonnell, Cahalane, and Sherlock.

Deane completed the hour with that early 1-1 to his name. He also laid on a goal chance for Jones, which a falling Paudie Feehan somehow saved on the line.

Cork retained 83% of their kick-outs, and with that wall of Deane, O’Callaghan, Walsh, and Cahalane squeezing up across the middle, they also pinched 57% of Tipp’s restarts.

New Premier manager Niall Fitzgerald gave a positive review of Cork’s progression.

“The levels of movement, the amount of runners that they were committing to the attack, how varied their runs were, that's a huge learning. They were very effective on the press as well, which put our backs under pressure,” he said.

“I'll be honest, I felt Cork were very, very impressive. I think they've improved on last year and they're a team that are going to give Division 2 a real rattle this year.”