BY KIERAN McCARTHY
JOHN Cleary knows Cork are in a good place right now. They inflicted the first defeat of the season on Ulster champions Donegal who were being touted as All-Ireland contenders, and Cork have room for improvement too.
Cleary also knows the impact winning will have on his group of players as well as the Cork supporters. There were 7,251 fans in Páirc Uí Rinn on Saturday – though it looked like more – to watch Cork beat Donegal, and the hope is a result and performance like this will encourage more supporters to get behind the footballers.
‘We had a couple of days like this last year,’ Cleary noted after the 3-9 to 0-16 win.
‘I felt the crowd really got behind us in the Roscommon game in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, and there was a super feeling. Going up to the Derry match (in Croke Park) we had only a week to prepare, but a big Cork crowd went up. Again today was a day we needed a big performance – and to get a win is a bonus. The summer is here and hopefully the supporters will keep behind us because we have some very big days in the next few weeks.’
The Castlehaven man realises the importance of a notable win like this – and fans flooded the pitch afterwards, surrounding Cork footballers for selfies and autographs. We’ve seen this sight with the Cork hurlers in recent weeks so it was refreshing to see the footballers enjoy these moments with their fans.
‘Particularly playing here at home and seeing the crowd, Cork football is crying out for that,’ Cleary said.
‘This group is putting in a savage effort. We've been kind of slowly climbing the ladder so it was a case of would today be a step too far? But I thought we played outstandingly well at times.
‘It looked like we might leave it behind, but thankfully we got two turnovers at the end to kick two great points to get us over the line.’
