John Cleary wary of long trip to Down but knows rewards of a second win
THIS is unfamiliar territory for the Cork footballers: they are heading into their second game of the league with a win already under their belts.
The opening weekend win against Meath means the Cork footballers are now heading to Newry with some positivity as they face Down this Sunday in Páirc Esler (1pm).
Taking into account the departure of players in the off-season and injury losses, Cork’s win against Meath was exactly what was needed. The Rebels will be determined to back that performance up with something similar against the 2024 Tailteann Cup champions.
‘You wouldn’t want to take it (the Meath win) for granted either. We lost the first three games last year and it wasn’t the end of the world,’ Cork boss John Cleary said.
‘You just try and recover and it’s game by game. I think we will have an awful lot of learnings there that we need to work on, and the players know that. We have a good few out injured and hopefully they will be trickling back. If you were without points and you have a lot of new fellas in, it makes it a lot harder then but I think that will give everyone that was out there confidence in the next couple of games.’
Cork still have plenty to work on. Being eight points up with ten minutes left before Meath cut the gap to four late on is concerning. As is the fact that the Rebels only retained 43 percent of their own kickouts, most of those being long.
The Cork footballers ahead of their Division 2 league win against Meath.
‘We didn’t manage it (the eight-point lead) coming down the home straight. We could have pushed on and we didn’t need to be half hanging on at the end there, definitely,’ Cleary noted.
‘They troubled us big time on our kickouts. It is something we have to go back to the drawing board with. Look, it’s the first time since I’ve been involved in the last four years that we have won the first game. There is relief in that and the two points.’
The Mournemen go into Sunday’s game off the back of a loss against Roscommon, 3-21 to 1-20, but still showed flashes of how threatening they can be. They scored six two-pointers in the first half against the Rossies, including full forward Pat Havern getting four, and they converted 83 percent of their attempts on goal.
‘Down are supposed to be going well by all accounts in challenge matches and things like that. Again, home advantage is a big thing. It maybe got us over the line against Meath. Going up to Newry is a more difficult assignment so we’ll brush ourselves down now and prepare for the week and head up there. Hopefully we can do ourselves justice up there,’ Cleary added.
Speaking of players with an eye for the posts, Brian O’Driscoll proved to be quite the weapon for Cork against Meath. It was the first time the former Tadhg MacCarthaigh player ever took frees at inter county level – he provided a great option from dead balls and from play.
‘He (O’Driscoll) used to take them for Caheragh and for Carbery. In the last couple of weeks, he has been practicing them. We said ‘there are a few going over here’. He stood up and said he wanted to take the right-footed kicks and let Mark (Cronin) take the ones on the other side,’ the Cork boss explained.
While getting as high a league position as possible early on is a focus, so too is getting to grasp the new rules. It was clear Down used them as a tactic to try and shock Roscommon so the Cork players will have to be on their A game in trying to quell it. Cleary and the players know this.
‘If you got a goal and a two-pointer, you could be up four points and next thing you’re down a point. It’ll take us a bit of time to get used to that. We were up seven or eight at some stage (in the Meath game) and you’re thinking a couple of two pointers and a goal and they’re back in it. The way the game is going, it kind of goes in phases. You have your phase and you have got to try to make the most of that. Then when you’re under the cosh, you have got to limit it,’ he said.
