Daniel O'Mahony and Cork keen to finish the job despite promotion achieved 

Cork defender Daniel O’Mahony knows the importance of this weekend as the Rebels look to claim silverware. 

The Rebels earned promotion from the Allianz Division 2 Football League last Sunday after a win over Tyrone away from home.

Cork now face Meath tomorrow in the league final in Croke Park (1.45pm).

Has the pressure been lifted off the shoulders of the players after the Leesiders finally returned to Division 1 for the first time since 2016?

“Did it weigh heavy? It definitely weighed heavily on a lot of the panel,” O’Mahony says.

“You’ve got guys who’ve been 10 years out of Division 1. You’ve got guys who only ever played Division 2 so it probably didn’t weigh that heavy in that sense for me, but for let’s say, Brian Hurley or Ian Maguire or Matty Taylor, those guys have been soldiering in Division 2 and Division 3 for the last 10 years.

“There’s a sense of relief there for those guys in particular, and even myself, to be fair.” 

Cork will be back at the top table of league football in 2027. Playing the best teams on a regular basis will only benefit the Rebels.

“To beat the best, you’ve got to be playing them so I think that’s probably the big one,” the Knocknagree defender said.

“I do think next year, actually getting to play those teams will probably pay dividends.

“It’s more about actually just getting the exposure to the top teams on a consistent basis because when the championship comes around, you might only get two or three games against the top, top teams.

“To actually be able to play them week in, week out next year, I think, is probably the biggest benefit.” 

O’Mahony has revelled in the new rules and the new way of defending since the start of 2025 including some great battles with Kerry star David Clifford.

“I think it’s way better, to be honest,” he says of the new rules.

“I’d like to see it go even more one-to-one. The only thing that I can see wrong with the new rules, and I don’t want to be throwing in things because we need time for the new rules to bed in, but to make the goal worth four points, make teams attack the goal.

“At the moment, we’re probably seeing a lot of teams really go after the two-pointers, which you’d be fooled not to with the scoring system. It kind of takes some one-v-ones out of it because you have a lot of playing the ball around the arc, trying to get shooting opportunities, as opposed to, let’s say, kicking the ball in and going at teams.

“Obviously, you’re still seeing one-v-one battles inside, depending. But as a whole, I think the new rules have been great.” 

The lack of consistency has been an issue for the Rebels in recent years. It does look like it has been rectified with six wins in seven league games to finish in the promotion spots this season.

“The better you are as a team, the more consistent you’re going to be because you’re going to be winning more games. I think that’s probably what we went after. We’re in year four now with John Cleary and Kevin Walsh, and they’ve done a fantastic job.

“Each year we’re getting better and better, and adding things to our game. I think the better we’ve gotten, the more consistent we’re getting. The best way to combat consistency is to get better as a team.” 

Cork have the opportunity to beat Meath for the second time this season after defeating them by two points at Páirc Uí Rinn last month. O’Mahony knows though that it will be tough.

Despite being promoted, the Rebels don’t want to rest on their laurels this weekend.

“The job is not finished. Any opportunity you have to go up and play a competitive game in Croke Park is big. Any opportunity you have to go up and play a competitive game with a trophy at the end of it is even bigger.

“I’m really looking forward to the game at the weekend. I think the squad are too. Meath have a lot of good forwards. A lot of tricky forwards.

“You want to be playing the best, you want to be marking the best. It’s really exciting. The biggest thing was getting the promotion to Division 1, but when you’re up in Croke Park, you want to win.”