Patrick Kelly: Cork are growing in confidence ahead of mouthwatering trip to Croke Park

The victory against Roscommon was a complete Cork performance. Every metric of their game was impressive.

Cork midfield duo Ian Maguire and Colm O’Callaghan were exceptional against Roscommon. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

If we rewound the clock to before a ball was kicked in 2025 and asked ourselves 'what does success look like for the Cork footballers this year?' what would we have said? So often we can get lost in the intensity and immediacy of the championship and base all reviews off when it comes to an end. Was it abrupt or expected? Performances matter of course, but at the end of the day, GAA is still analysed in binary terms; did we win or lose? Did we advance or were we eliminated? Games and championships are analysed starting at the end point.

Cork’s league campaign ended with four victories and three defeats. If just one of the defeats to Down, Monaghan or Roscommon had been victories, Cork would have won promotion. However, just one further loss could have seen them relegated down to Division 3. Cork finished where they have done in recent years: mid-table. About what we would have expected, although probably flirting more with relegation than promotion throughout the campaign. All in all, an average league campaign.