Young gun Dara Sheedy shines for Cork footballers while Jack Leahy remains strong hurling option

John Cleary will have been delighted to depart Tullamore with another two points in the bank as it gives Cork a wonderful opportunity to push for Division 1 status for the first time since 2016.

Wins on the road are rarely as comfortable as Sunday’s one against Offaly was. Cork built a healthy lead in the first half, thanks mainly to two brilliant Colm O’Callaghan goals, which were both assisted by Chris Óg Jones.

They were nine up at the break, with the aid of the wind in the second half, so a comeback was never likely. Still they won't have been happy with how they let an average Offaly side, who look destined for the drop, to score 13 points against the breeze.

A huge positive would have been getting game-time into players like Sean Meehan, Dara Sheedy and Cathail O’Mahony as Cork need their entire panel to contribute if they are going to have a successful campaign. 

Sheedy, in particular, is starting to look like he is going to be an extremely important part of the Cork attack going forward.

With Meath defeating Louth, Derry toppling Kildare and Tyrone getting the better of Cavan, the business end of the Division 2 table is starting to take shape after three rounds.

It looks plainly obvious the two promoted sides will come from Cork, Meath, Derry and Tyrone. The two Ulster sides may have stuttered in the opening two rounds, but they are getting going now and will certainly have a say in the promotion shake-up.

Cork, of course, will have been delighted with getting off to such a positive start, winning twice on the road, but there is no getting away from the fact they have yet to face the better sides. 

Three of their last four games are against their promotion rivals, with the other side, Kildare, not completely out of the race yet either.

It is very much in their own hand now though, and that is all they would have wanted at this juncture of their campaign. You would imagine that with six points on the table after three games that when they travel to Omagh on 22 March to face Tyrone in their final fixture, they will still have a shot at a top two place, regardless.

Next week’s game against Meath at Páirc Uí Rinn has become hugely important considering the Royals are the other county with a 100% record so far. Quite simply, you would imagine that next week’s victor is probably Division 1-bound.

STARRING ROLE

With the hurling league on a week off, all eyes were on the Fitzgibbon Cup final between UL and Mary I at Croke Park on Friday night. From a Cork perspective, two players started on the victorious UL side, with Midleton’s Ciarmhac Smyth and Dungourney’s Jack Leahy playing their part in the comfortable 13-point triumph.

Smyth had to go off early but Leahy was instrumental, hitting an impressive 1-5 from play at GAA HQ. He might be a name that everyone interested in Cork hurling has known for years but, nationally, he's the least heralded of UL’s galactico forward line. Darragh McCarthy, Adam Screeney, Adam English, Cathal O’Neill, Aidan O’Connor and Oisin O’Donoghue are already established inter-county names.

His 1-5 tally saw him topping the scoring from play stats for the victors, just ahead of O’Neill, as he showed that he certainly belonged in that company.

He is not long back from injury but should be involved in the Cork senior set-up, even though breaking into the Cork full-forward line does not look an easy task right now. It is worth noting that he could be the best free-taking option as well, and that is another positive attribute to have in his bow.

And while Leahy caught the eye, probably the biggest takeaway from the game was the collective displays of Adam English, Cathal O’Neill and Shane O’Brien, as the three young Limerick men looked in serious nick. 

If they can bring that kind of form to the Limerick team in the next few months, then they could make a mockery of the notion the Treaty aren't All-Ireland favourites.