Comment: Cork now feeling the pinch of depleted defensive ranks

Saturday’s Cork team contained just seven players that started the 2023 All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final victory over Roscommon.

Colm O'Callaghan of Cork after his side's defeat in the Allianz Football League Division 2 match between Cork and Roscommon at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Given the absentees were never more lamented than on Saturday evening, it seems appropriate to run through the full list. This is in no way to deflect from Cork’s heaviest defeat, in either League or Championship, since 2021. It is simply to state the facts surrounding their latest relegation-threatened spring.