Cork boss John Cleary pleased with ‘block of work done' in second pre-season period
'We've been happy the way the last three or four weeks went,' the Castlehaven man said
John Cleary hopes a 'second pre-season' over the past five weeks will stand to Cork as they embark on their All-Ireland Series campaign. The Rebels have recorded some major group-stage scalps in the past two seasons, taking down Mayo and Donegal.
But just as significant were their hard-earned first-round victories over Louth and Clare, both won by two points, to ease the pressure and build that momentum.
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Irish Examiner
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- Irish Examiner
With Whelan motoring out the field, Galway have chance to right previous wrongs
How do you measure progress? Galway began their Leinster campaign with a 12-point hammering at the hands of Kilkenny. They bookended their Leinster round-robin campaign with a comfortable five-point win away to Dublin. It was a game they'd led by 12 with six minutes remaining. That's collective progress, though. What about individual progress within the five-week window, how could that be measured? Conor Whelan's headway, as it turns out, is very easily scored and depicted. Whelan began Leinster as a muted and struggling-for-form inside forward. He left the round-robin behind as a puckout-winning, point-scoring, turnover-hungry half-forward. In the county's aforementioned opening round spin to Nowlan Park, Whelan had two clean possessions in the entire first half. And this a first half where Galway had the elements. The beginning to his second half saw him foul Mikey Butler at one turn before, not long after, letting fall a delivery and then running out over the sliotar. The Galway captain had just five possessions to his name when moved out to half-forward on 64 minutes. And there he has stayed and swollen his influence. Compare the five possessions across 64 minutes at Nowlan Park to the five he had in the first 15 minutes of their de facto Leinster semi-final against Dublin last time out. He won two Galway puckouts, a free, and assisted a point. His five possessions in the 18 minutes after half-time saw him claim another puckout, which led to a point, raise three white flags of his own, and then force a turnover of Ronan Hayes that ended with a Tom Monaghan point. 'In terms of where we were and what we needed, we needed that leadership and that responsibility there. No better man. He's leading the line really, really well at the minute,' said manager Micheál Donoghue of the move to wing-forward. And what of the man himself. What's he made of moving out the field to reprise a role he very briefly held during the premierships of Henry Shefflin and Shane O'Neill. 'After a defeat like [the Kilkenny game], you have to change a few things, and I played there for my club all last year and we got to the county intermediate final. The way the game has gone now, you probably try and turn the middle third into more of a battleground really. That's just where it's at,' said Whelan. 'At this level, you have to have the skillset and adaptability to be able to adjust and move around. It's not that different, I'm still fairly close to goal and just happy to help the team in any way you can and contribute to trying to be successful.' It was at wing-forward that an 18-year-old Whelan was sprung from nowhere for his first championship appearance and start in the 2015 All-Ireland quarter-final against Cork. He marked the debut and marked himself out with a 1-2 contribution. Donoghue assumed the reins for the following season and moved him into the corner. It was at corner-forward he won an All-Ireland and All-Star in 2017. The now 28-year-old, in an unprompted admission, always expected Donoghue to return for a second stint in the maroon bib. 'Probably always knew that he'd come back at some stage, just wasn't sure when. Happy to have him back. I did always feel that he would be back as he would have had a very close connection with the players the first time. I knew that would always draw him back in over time. I thought he'd probably leave it another couple of years until a good few of us were finished. 'Micheál always brings a very high standard of what he expects and he's very, very good at moulding a group and bringing people together, even down to the amount of players he's tried in the league, over 40, and 30 or so in the championship.' Whelan, who is currently finishing up a PhD at ATU Galway in Elite Gaelic Games Student Athletes, is among the minority of current Tribesmen who own a Leinster final. They've lost three - all to Kilkenny - since the 2018 replay triumph. Unsurprisingly, 2023 rankles the most. Galway, if requires reminding, had one hand on the Bob O'Keeffe Cup when Cillian Buckley stole the result, the silverware, and the works with a 76th minute goal. 'Any time you lose a game like that, it's challenging. Ultimately, that's the nature of sport and you never have it won until you're across the line. No two finals are the same thankfully, so we'll be looking forward to the challenge that lies ahead. 'Winning as a group and being successful, that's very important. A Leinster title is a major part of that and I'm fortunate enough to have two, and feel that I should have more. We went up there a good few times expecting and we've had our fair share of disappointment. That just shows you how difficult they are to win.' With an in-form Whelan lifting in his new home, they're odds of faring better with this latest attempt are much healthier than if he'd been left to wither inside.
Irish Daily Mirror
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Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
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Kerry aim to end Ulster opposition inferiority complex, Cork look for underage crumbs of encouragement
Two very different agendas for Cork and Kerry at O'Moore Park this afternoon. Let's throw in with Kerry seeing as their All-Ireland MFC quarter-final is the first of the Portlaoise double-header. Kerry's opposition is Cavan. Kerry's opposition is Ulster and so the hour's fare provides the latest opportunity to see how an underage Kingdom crop fares against a leading northern outfit. Not to throw in with hyperbolic statements but Kerry minor and U20 teams of late have developed something of an inferiority complex when stood opposite northern opposition. The results and the evidence speaks for itself. In the 2023 and '24 campaigns, Kerry's minor interest ended at the hands of Ulster opposition - Derry and Monaghan - at the All-Ireland semi-final stage. The year previous, the then Kerry management were visibly ecstatic on the Portlaoise sideline at scoring a one-point All-Ireland quarter-final win over Tyrone. The same management, the summer before, had suffered defeat to Derry in the delayed 2020 decider. So that's Kerry coming off second best in three of their last four minor outings against an Ulster team. At U20, Tyrone bettered them this year and last. Mercy Mounthawk suffered the same fate in the All-Ireland post-primary semi-finals of this year and last. The approach minor manager Wayne Quillinan outlined midweek is one, as results attest to, that Kerry underage teams of all hues have floundered against in recent years. 'Cavan are going to be ultra defensive. In fairness, they're really, really well coached. They're really hard to break down. Obviously with the numbers back, they're looking for turnovers. They're looking to break at pace.' For Cork, the challenge is a little less nuanced and rather more straightforward; that is to successfully negotiate the All-Ireland minor quarter-final hurdle. Derry, Dublin, and Mayo, by very different margins, have shown Cork the exit door at this stage of the championship over the past three years. The most recent of those was last June's worrying 3-14 to 0-6 beating by Mayo. Arriving as it did off the back of a 15-point Munster final whacking, the conversation and concern surrounding the health of the county's underage set-up had its volume turned up. Lamentably, the results did not spark any meaningful introspection by those in power. Following 10 and nine-point defeats at the hands of Kerry in recent weeks, Cork football and the current minor students could badly do with a performance and scoreline that provides crumbs of encouragement going forward. Encouragement, on the whole, has been in short supply for Cork football this summer. Across minor, U20, and senior, there have been 11 championship outings. The four victories are split into two categories. Two comfortable wins over Clare and Limerick at U20 and senior. And two incredibly near escapes against Tipperary at minor and U20. In short, Cork have not bettered a county at or above their station. Does that change here? KERRY: R Kennedy (Kerins O'Rahillys); R Sheridan (Duagh), E Joy (Ballymacelligott), T Ó Slatara (Churchill); D Murphy (Listry), D Sargent (John Mitchels), M Clifford (Fossa); M Ó Sé (An Ghaeltacht), J Curtin (Ballyduff); M O'Carroll (Dr Crokes), G White (John Mitchels), A Tuohy (Austin Stacks); N Lacey (Kerins O'Rahillys), K Griffin (St Michael's/Foilmore), B Kelliher (Dr Crokes). CAVAN: C McConnell (Butlersbridge); D Brady (Laragh), C Bough (Munterconnaught), M Duffy (Mountnugent); M Smith (Crosserlough), H McMullen (Cootehill Celtic), J Donohoe (Mullahoran); S Maguire (Templeport), F Graham (Butlersbridge); D Lynch (Cuchulainns), J Brady (Gowna), C Smith (Lavey); M Reilly (Denn), N Quigley (Denn), J Graham (Lavey). CORK: R Twohig (Kilmeen); B Coffey (Clonakilty), A Keane (Kinsale), M Kiernan (Carrigaline); J O'Leary (Ballinascarthy), C McCarthy (St Colum's), B Cronin (Ballincollig); S Kelleher Leavy (Macroom), R Hayes (Carbery Rangers); L O'Mahony (Ballincollig), D Flynn (Argideen Rangers), S Long (Newcestown); J Byerley (Clonakilty), B Corkery Delaney (Carrigaline), E Maguire (Castlehaven).
