Tadhg Coakley on all things new at Páirc Ui Chaoimh Saturday night

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.

As the Allianz Leagues throw-in, our writers look ahead to the major storylines which will dominate the weekend's action.

Ciaran Sheehan also makes his first competitive start for Cork in seven years.

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.

UCC never led at the Carlow college grounds.

Mark Collins offers with a wry smile. He is talking about his modest Cork senior inter-county record, which began a few months after the county’s 2010 All-Ireland SFC success.

UCC selector Paul O’Keeffe fears the Sigerson Cup is in danger of being left at “the bottom of the pecking order” as GAA chiefs redraw the fixtures calendar.

UCC selector Dr. Paul O’Keeffe fears the Sigerson Cup is suffering as GAA chiefs redraw the fixtures calendar.

Luckless Nathan Walsh’s injury woes continued Sunday in Tralee as Cork pummelled Kerry’s Under 20’s in the McGrath Cup.

Éamonn Fitzmaurice and Tony Leen ran the rule over both teams alongside Colm O'Connor in the commentary box.

Paul Kerrigan uses his fingers to count out the number of Cork senior finals he’s been involved in.

Nemo Rangers manager Paul O’Donovan would prefer if the Cork SFC was a club-only competition.

Nothing new to report here - Douglas remain incapable of bettering Nemo Rangers in the championship, while the latter upheld a very fine semi-final record.

Next Sunday’s Cork SFC semi-final between near neighbours Nemo Rangers and Douglas, provided the weather conditions allow for it, could be a slick game of football.

It may have taken a well-worked 53rd-minute goal from full-forward Conor Russell to seal the deal but Douglas were full value for their six-point victory over fancied but wasteful Ballincollig at Páirc Ui Rinn yesterday.

Alan Cadogan will miss the remainder of the club season, because of a hip injury.

Ronan McCarthy has taken umbrage with those who class this weekend’s Super 8 fixture between Cork and Roscommon as a dead-rubber.

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.

Midfielder Killian O’Hanlon, who missed the Dublin game because of a head injury, is back in the Cork team to face Tyrone.

The Cork footballers must be “streetwise” and “patient” during Saturday’s must-win Super 8 tie against Tyrone, a fixture which selector Sean Hayes has described as the “game of our lives”.

Bobbie O’Dwyer’s recollection is forensic, and not because his son was Cork corner-back in Tralee that night.

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

Sean Powter could see action for the Cork footballers this summer — but only if the county progresses as far as the Super 8s.

Sean Powter could see action for the Cork footballers this summer - but only if the county progresses as far as the Super 8s.

Cork has suffered a serious double blow in their preparations for the Munster football championship with two of the county’s brightest young talents succumbing to potentially season-ending injuries.

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.

Douglas won by a single point in yesterday’s low-key Cork SFC first round at Páirc Uí Rinn. A repeat of the 2018 tie that went the way of Bishopstown, but this city derby never rose to any great heights and while the winners were the better team, they failed to capitalise with some really bad wides.

Cork footballer Mark Collins is adamant that relegation to Division 3 will not affect Cork’s championship endeavours.

Cork’s 2010 All-Ireland SFC-winning selector Ger O’Sullivan has called on the county to get behind the senior footballers now when they need them most.

While Cork’s relegation to Division 3 — just four years after contesting a top-flight league final — might seem as bad as it gets, Ronan McCarthy has warned this may not be the end of the Rebels’ spectacular decline.

It has been a shocking decade of decline for Cork football and having started it in 2010 as Division One and All-Ireland champions, they finish it as a Division Three side after yesterday’s deserved win in Armagh failed to save them from relegation.

Seán Powter will start his first game for the Cork footballers in almost 14 months this weekend.

Cork forward Luke Connolly will miss this Sunday's must-win league fixture away to Armagh, dealing a significant blow to the Rebels' survival hopes.

It ended with bodies being flung, arms spread wide, legs hacking chaotically, and the general confusion of a final ’45 dropped upon close to 28 players.

Ronan McCarthy hopes Saturday’s win over Tipperary can act as a springboard for Cork to avoid relegation to Division 3.

Your 60 second report.

It will be late February, at the earliest, before Seán Powter makes his inter-county return, according to Cork football manager Ronan McCarthy.

A knee injury is likely to keep Colm O’Neill out of Cork’s Munster SFC final against Kerry on Saturday week, with Seán Powter also in danger of missing out.

The Cork football team to face Tipperary in Saturday’s Munster SFC semi-final contains two championship debutants.

The Cork football team to face Tipperary in Saturday’s Munster SFC semi-final contains two championship debutants.

Seán Powter, Paul Kerrigan and Brian O’Driscoll are also likely to miss out because of injury.

The Cork senior hurling management may have to plan for the early rounds of the championship without Newtownshandrum’s Tim O’Mahony, who picked up a suspected fractured elbow over the weekend.

Rising Cork star Seán Powter looks likely to miss the Rebels’ Munster Football Championship opener against Tipperary or Waterford after suffering a setback with his hamstring injury.