Three positives from Cork's win over Cavan
Cork players celebrate the win over Cavan. Picture: INPHO/Tom Maher
Two-pointers have been a huge acid to the game of football since the new rules came in over 12 months ago.
They are crucial in games and it’s something Cork have been quite good at getting.
They had a nice spread of options to land two-pointers in 2025 and having that string to their bow came in handy against Cavan.
They kicked four in total including two from impact sub Steven Sherlock. The second one from the St Finbarr’s star proved to be the winner.
Ice-cool as he slotted over a two-pointer from a free.
John Cleary’s side could have possibly had more orange flags. They were unlucky on a few occasions.
At times, the Leesiders were maybe obsessed over trying to get the perfect score. It nearly came back to prove costly, but they will certainly take this win.
It’s a sign of a good team when you come away with a victory without ever reaching top gear. Cork will know that they need to improve going forward.
Arguably Cork's most important player with the Éire Óg powerhouse showing his class once again in the middle of the pitch.
Former Cork footballer and an All-Ireland winner in 2010 Pearse O’Neill in these pages last week described O’Callaghan as one of the best midfielders in the country.
He’s not far wrong in saying that. O'Callaghan is really after coming on leaps and bounds in recent years.
He kicked a point against Cavan, but his overall play was excellent.
There were no new faces from the off, but there were two newcomers on the bench in forwards Conor Daly and Dara Sheedy.
Sheedy came on after 48 minutes in place of his Bantry Blues teammate Ruairí Deane for his debut.
The young player showed no nerves and brought a different dimension to the Cork forward unit.
While Sherlock will get all the plaudits for kicking the winner, Sheedy’s performance probably went under the radar.
He was excellent when he came on and caused Cavan umpteen problems.
The experience of Matty Taylor, Ian Maguire, Maurice Shanley and Sherlock when they came on also played a factor in the comeback victory.
Cork used all their guile in the last quarter when they could have very easily panicked.
The crowd also got behind the team which was so important.
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