The road to Tier 1 salvation will take the Cork footballers to the heart of Division 3 in Longford, by way of Tipperary and Leitrim.

John Fogarty previews the weekend's GAA fixtures.

The appearance side by side of ‘Cork attacker Brian Hurley’ and ‘hamstring injury’ is liable to induce a wince from even the most sanguine Rebel supporter — but Ronan McCarthy insists Hurley’s latest setback is in the ‘niggle’ category.

As he emerged from a home dressing room, reinforced by the glow of the more joyous half of a Limerick double on Saturday evening, Billy Lee ducked away from the awaiting reporters for just a moment.

A sensational display from Danny Neville helped Limerick to their first McGrath Cup in 15 years with a shock win over Cork.

The first inter-county silverware of 2020 will be handed out at LIT Gaelic Grounds today, starting with the McGrath Cup final.

The Rebels’ team includes Colm Spillane, who made his return to red-and-white in Tuesday night’s Canon O’Brien Cup game against UCC at the Mardyke after missing 2019.

Brian Hurley runs upstairs these days, never walks.

The big crowd created a wonderful atmosphere in Ovens today, and while there was disappointment for the home fans in the 1,777 attendance, they couldn’t but be impressed with what Templenoe served up in this Munster club IFC semi-final.

Just five years on from winning the Cork IFC grade, Éire Óg are Premier IFC champions after edging past St Michael’s on a beautiful autumnal day in Páirc Uí Rinn yesterday.

Many memorable encounters have graced Clonakilty’s Ahamilla GAA complex but few more compelling than Saturday’s Éire Óg Premier IFC semi-final victory over Bantry Blues.

Having twice been shortlisted for the top individual award, six-time All-Ireland winning captain Stephen Cluxton is in the shake-up to claim his first footballer of the year as one of Dublin’s 13 PwC All-Star nominations.

All the fun of the fair in Cork tomorrow will quickly be followed by all the fun of the fair in Dublin next week.

Carbery Rangers will face champions St Finbarr’s in the Cork SFC third round following a pulsating victory over west Cork rivals Castlehaven in Skibbereen on Saturday night.

Cork may have lost their third competitive game of the summer and exited the championship but do so with their heads held high.

A come-from-behind second-half effort secured Tyrone their second win of the Super 8s series and, in the process, all but guaranteed themselves an All-Ireland semi-final berth.

After Cork’s 16-point shellacking at the hands of Tyrone in O’Moore Park 12 months ago, Ronan McCarthy stood defiantly in the tunnel and declared he knew the way forward.

Cork is not a county that trades in moral victories and yet Ronan McCarthy's footballers can take plenty of positives from an ultimately convincing 13-point defeat to the five-in-a-row chasing All-Ireland champions this evening.

James Loughrey pondered whether it was worth continuing to play football for Cork. In the days and weeks following their tame championship exit at the hands of Tyrone, last July, retirement heavily weighed on the full-back’s mind.

Cork’s maiden voyage into the Super 8s begins this evening and the challenge facing them couldn’t be any bigger than that posed by the five-in-a-row chasing Dublin.

Cork will not make the mistake other teams have by adopting a defensive approach when facing the Dubs, half-back Tomás Clancy has said.

Dublin’s scoring power will not deter Cork from remaining faithful to the attack-minded approach which delivered the county a Super 8s spot, manager Ronan McCarthy has said.

While Cork’s victory on Saturday may not have come as a surprise the gulf in class certainly was. Cork produced their best display of the year to add to the evidence that they are heading in the right direction.

Former All-Ireland winners John Cleary and Tony Davis believe Cork have nothing to lose heading into this year’s Super 8s on the back of a comprehensive victory over Laois.

‘Bring it on,’ was the battle cry from Brian Hurley as a rejuvenated Cork face into a fortnight of Super 8s action at Croke Park where they’ll line up against the two counties who contested last year’s All-Ireland final.

Cork will spend the next two weekends in Croke Park after comfortably securing their place in the Super 8s with this emphatic 14-point dismissal of Laois.

Cork football selector Eddie Kirwan has likened tomorrow’s fourth-round qualifier against Laois to an ‘All-Ireland final’.

Life was breathed into the Munster championship on Saturday in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Cork showed up and battled, stayed with Kerry for the game but ultimately came up short. Kerry played in fits and starts, put up a good score and got the job done. Both teams have plenty to reflect on this week as they ready themselves for the serious stuff.

We all know the biggest bugbear about GAA officiating is inconsistency and there was a classic case of it in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday. For the same infringement, Anthony Nolan made three different calls.

Cork have not reached the last eight of the championship since 2014, falling at the fourth-round hurdle each summer since. But irrespective of who Cork are pitted against on this occasion, McCarthy is adamant that his team are well capable of progressing to the Super 8s.

Regrets? They’ll have a few.

Cork manager Ronan McCarthy refused to be drawn on the performance of referee Anthony Nolan, remarking that he’d be “better off” holding his counsel where the man in the middle is concerned.

Just 18,265 souls, the worst crowd for a Cork-Kerry Munster SFC final in 36 years, were treated to entertainment if anything else as the challengers gave Kerry their biggest test in four years.

The significance of Brian Hurley being named at full-forward on the Cork team for this evening’s fixture below in the park? It will be his first Munster final start since the summer of 2015.

Conor Counihan may have been a man for the dummy team but none of his successors — Brian Cuthbert, Peadar Healy, and Ronan McCarthy — have been known for it.

The one-sidedness of the Cork-Kerry rivalry since 2012 has not diminished it in the slightest for David Clifford.

Limerick’s seven-point Munster SFC win over Tipperary last month ensured there was no possibility of Cork taking the Treaty men lightly, according to debutant Eoghan McSweeney.

Nine minutes into the second half of Saturday’s Munster semi-final rout, Cork called Brian Hurley ashore.

The old Mike Tyson deadpan came to mind as Limerick’s Munster final ambitions were obliterated in the opening 12 minutes of Saturday’s SFC semi-final at Páirc Uí Rinn.

The furnishings in Pairc Ui Rinn won’t rival Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano for comfort anytime soon, but no-one was forced to the edge of their seats Saturday night in Cork as the hosts romped to a 21-point Munster SFC semi final victory over Limerick.

Cork have handed out three championship debuts for Saturday’s Munster SFC semi-final against Limerick in Páirc Uí Rinn.

Jewellery, silver, art, furniture and militaria will lure treasure-hunters in their droves, writes Des O’Sullivan.

Despite relegation to the league’s third division, Cork football manager Ronan McCarthy remains confident his under-fire troops can “mix it” with the top-tier counties this summer.

A rousing second-half performance from a relatively young Blarney team enabled them to get past Ballinhassig in the opening round of the Cork Premier IHC at Ballincollig.