Ronan McCarthy: ‘We control our own fate in the league and that’s a big thing’

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

The Cork manager said an attacking performance was key to their success against a defensive Tipp set-up.

“We control our own fate in the league and that’s a big thing for us, that we’re not depending on anybody else,” he said.

“Confidence has been an issue and the team has been desperate for a win. The fact that they’ve got the win now hopefully will give them that freedom to go out and play with that quality we know they have. At the end of the day, this team is about attacking. That’s what’s in their DNA. We’re best when we’re going forward, attacking with pace, support running, and so on.”

He praised Sean Powter, who came through over 20 minutes of action and set up the match-winning goal, comparing the 21-year-old to Down legend James McCartan. “He’ll have two more weeks training under his belt and we expect him to play a club game next week, which will help him on the way back. He’ll get more time but he’ll not play a full game the next day, for definite.”

There was also a positive injury update from Tipperary manager Liam Kearns. He’ll be boosted by the returns of Michael Quinlivan, Evan Comerford, Paudie Feehan, Gavin Whelan, and, all going well, Shane O’Connell for their trip to Kildare. Tipp’s bench was especially fresh-faced with three of their four subs having made their debuts this spring, and six of the remaining seven players yet to reach that milestone.

“Kildare away will be tough and it’s looking like it’ll come down to the last game, Clare at home. I have to say I’m delighted with my boys. They’re fighting hard, they’re competitive in every match, and we’ve had a horrendous injury list. We didn’t get a result here but the two poorest performances were against Armagh and Meath, and we still only lost by a handful of points to any of the teams. We’ll keep fighting, that’s it.”