JOHN Cleary knows the importance of home games in Cork’s promotion push – and it’s why he wants to make Páirc Uí Chaoimh a fortress.
The Rebels host Westmeath this Saturday evening (5pm), keen to return to winning ways after an away loss to Down that leaves Cork fourth in the Division 2 table after two rounds.
With four home matches at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in this league campaign, Cleary acknowledges the need to make the most of home advantage, particularly given the three away games are long trips north to Down (which Cork lost 1-19 to 2-15), Monaghan (February 23rd) and Cavan (March 23rd).
‘We want to build up a consistency of winning our home games and then if you can pick something up away from home, that will help. The home games are so important,’ the Cork boss told The Southern Star.
‘The away games are particularly tough for us because we have so far to travel to each game – we have to go to Ulster for our three away games.
‘We need to make hay in our home games, but in this division every game is a big game. Every team is fighting for something.’
‘Páirc Uí Chaoimh has a great sod, it’s a fine wide-open pitch to play on, and hopefully it will suit us with the new rules.’
Cork began their Division 2 campaign on a winning note at home to Meath last month, 2-19 to 0-21, and after Westmeath on Saturday, both Roscommon and Louth will also make the trip to Leeside in the weeks ahead. These home matches hold the key to Cork’s promotion bid.
The Rebels’ home form in Division 2 in recent campaigns has been a mixed bag – from disappointing defeats to Cavan and Meath to draws with Armagh and Derry to wins against Kildare, Limerick and Down. The visit of Westmeath offers Cork the chance to make it back-to-back victories at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, though Cleary is wary of the Leinster side that has lost both their games so far, albeit it by scoring 2-39 in those two games.
‘They have performed very well, and were unlucky against Louth (lost 1-17 to 0-18), and they put it up to Monaghan for long periods and scored 2-21. It will definitely be a challenge for us to get over the line, but that’s our aim,’ added Cleary who feels Cork are a work in progress this season.
Injuries have weakened Cleary’s options in the opening rounds – Luke Fahy (hamstring), Kevin O’Donovan (ankle), Seán Meehan (hamstring), Conor Corbett (ACL) and Dan Ó Dineen (metatarsal) are all set to miss the entire league campaign. Add in injuries to Brian Hurley, Ian Maguire, Ruairi Deane, and David Buckley, as well as the eight players who stepped away from the panel over the winter (retirements, taking a break, travelling), so new players – like Sean Walsh, Neil Lordan and Sean McDonnell – have been thrown in at the deep end. These haven't been smooth waters for Cleary and Cork to navigate through. On top of all that, teams must adapt to the new football rules.
‘We didn’t have an awful lot of preparation for this season and the new rules, and it’s the same for every county,’ Cleary explained.
‘We couldn’t get back training until December 8th, then you couldn’t play a game until January 1st, so we had just one game – we were to play Mayo but it was called off at the last minute because of a tragic circumstance there – so we were going into the unknown a bit.
‘The game against Meath could have gone either way so we were happy to get the two points. Against Down, again it could have gone either way and we were disappointed not to get the two points. It’s a work in progress at the moment, particularly with the new rules, and I think everyone is feeling their way.
‘We would have felt a bit aggrieved with a few referee decisions in the last ten minutes against Down; even looking back on them we are still perplexed by them.’
Cleary’s target now is to get another home win in the league, and considering the next two games are an away trip to Monaghan and then home to Division 2 favourites Roscommon, the Westmeath match is in must-win territory for Cork. They need to make home advantage count.
