Cork captain Ian Maguire: 'The chance of winning a cup in Croke Park is huge'

Cork captain Ian Maguire has heaped praise on manager John Cleary after the Castlehaven clubman steered the Rebels to promotion from the Allianz Division 2 Football League.

The Leesiders defeated Tyrone last Sunday at O’Neills Healy Park as Cork return to Division 1 for the first time in a decade.

They have a chance to win silverware on Sunday when they meet Meath in Croke Park in the league final with throw-in at 1.45pm.

“It was a serious occasion on multiple fronts, we got relegated in 2016, so it has been a long journey,” the St Finbarr’s star says on the 0-22 to 0-19 victory over Tyrone.

“Going down to Division 3 and then getting back into Division 2 and then fighting for Sam Maguire status and a lot of other things, and then to finally have that push this year getting into Division 1. It has been an incredible journey, plenty of ups and downs, but from a Cork football perspective, it’s just brilliant to be back in Division 1.

“It puts us in a great place for next year, but in the current standings and where we are now, it has given us great momentum going into the championship, but ultimately now we have a league final and a chance of winning a cup in Croke Park on Sunday, which is huge.” 

Sunday’s decider comes fairly quickly after Cork and Meath played out a cracker at Páirc Uí Rinn last month. The Rebels came out on top, 1-23 to 1-21. They won their three home games this year, which obviously proved crucial in securing promotion.

"We put a huge emphasis on home importance and we’re undefeated at home, that Meath game was a big challenge for us,” the midfielder said.

“Arguably the toughest game in the league is the fourth game in the middle of the three-game block. Meath were unreal in the All-Ireland championship last year and they beat us in the championship. So we knew it was going to be a big test.

“But in fairness, the atmosphere that the fans gave us that day was incredible. It gave us an extra kick. And obviously, look, we backed it up with a performance ultimately.

“I think it came down to one or two plays at the end. But winning a tight game like that was huge for us. But then secondly, doing it at home in front of our home crowd was brilliant.

“They spurred us on in the game. That win was a big thing for Cork football."

Cork have a nice blend of youth and experience that just didn’t happen overnight. It has been a project that has been building since Cleary took over as manager on a full-time basis in the summer of 2022.

"If you’re looking from a Cork perspective, you have two teams there, the 2019 minor team and the 2019 U20 group, you have two All-Ireland winning teams, that’s really the backbone of the team,” states Maguire.

“You have a couple of experienced players that have been there or thereabouts for many years. There’s winning players in the dressing room.

“The depth has been built by John Cleary there over the last three, four years. If you’ve been looking at the club championship the last couple of years, players have really put their hands up. We’ve been building that strength.

“We’ve had some big wins over the last couple of years and those wins propel you into the following year. And we’ve different players putting their hands up. But I suppose our depth has really been seen this year with a couple of injuries, but also the league is a marathon and you need your 20 to 26 players.” 

Maguire has nothing but praise for the man steering the ship. Cleary was a legend during his playing days so it’s no surprise that he’s making an impression as the boss of the Rebels.

“If anybody’s at a game, they can see that passion coming out of him. John is an incredible man. He lives and breathes Cork and he wears it on his sleeve. He’s a terrific leader and a terrific manager.

“He’s done a superb job the last couple of years, taking it on from where we were, which was a tough position in 2022.

“It has been a long journey. I can’t speak highly enough of him. He’s just a passionate man and that does feed into us.”