No time to savour Roscommon victory as Dublin in Croke Park looms for Cork and John Cleary
14 June 2025; Cork manager John Cleary arrives ahead of the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Round 3 match between Roscommon and Cork at Laois Hire O'Moore Park in Portlaoise, Laois. Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile
Not for preparation purposes but John Cleary sure would have liked a little more time for his Cork players to savour their victory over Roscommon on Saturday.
The reward for their efforts is an All-Ireland SFC preliminary quarter-final date with Dublin in Croke Park this Saturday with a 6.15pm throw-in.
Dessie Farrell’s side are in the same boat having defeated Derry this past weekend and it’s a game Cleary is relishing. However, the inability to celebrate a major win is something he laments.
The same happened two years ago when they finished out their group campaign with a fine win over Mayo to seal a home preliminary quarter-final against Roscommon the following weekend.
Cork simply have to move on and quickly.
“That’s kind of the problem with the new system,” remarked Cleary.
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“I said to the lads in the dressing room after the game on Saturday that in my time when you won a big game like that you’d have at least one of two days celebrating it before you’d get back at it.
"But we knew coming down the road what was coming and the lads were all in recovery mode and looking forward to this weekend.
“It is the one drawback in this system that fellas train so hard and we all prepare so hard for it, and you don’t get the time to enjoy it properly because you can’t as no sooner that it happens, you have a bigger test coming the following week.
“The games just come so fast and I think there’s a lack of enjoyment when you do win a game because you’ve no time. It’s one of the weaknesses of the split season not to be able to sit back and enjoy things.
"You’re straight into preparing for what happens next.”
Nevertheless, Cleary was happy with the draw.
“It’s certainty now, we knew it was going to be Ballybofey, Newry or Croke Park and out of the three venues we’re happy it’s going to Croke Park.
“Both Donegal and Down were very impressive and it was a much of a muchness who we’d be playing but from a logistical point of view and playing in the top stadium in the country we’d be happy with that.”
Saturday will mark the first championship meeting between Cork and Dublin since their 2022 All-Ireland quarter-final where Dublin won by 11 points as they pulled away in the third quarter.
“I think we always play reasonably well against them, so we just hope that continues the weekend,” Cleary said.
“We played them in 2019 as well and from memory off the top of my head Cork acquitted themselves very well.
“The Dubs got through for a few goals there, particularly towards the end and that was the six-in-a-row team and they were outstanding. We know they're going to be formidable again the next day.
"Maybe they've lost a few players and they're in transition but any time you go to play Dublin in Croke Park, it's going to be a big task.
“But, look, we’re looking forward to it. We played them in the league a couple of years ago and it was a close game in Páirc Uí Chaoimh (Dublin won by two points).”
Cleary’s main injury concern is Paul Walsh, who went off with a quad injury after scoring a point in the 56th minute against Roscommon and he is being assessed to see if he is available for the trip to the capital.
Meanwhile, the chances of an Armagh-Kerry All-Ireland quarter-final the weekend after next are strong if the form guides are to be trusted.
Victories for Kerry against Cavan, Dublin over Cork, Donegal against Louth and Galway over Down would mean guarantee a first Armagh-Kerry last-eight game since 2006, when current Armagh coach Kieran Donaghy turned the game in Kerry’s favour, and a repeat of last year's All-Ireland semi-final.
Due to the avoidance of repeat pairings from the provincial finals and group fixtures, All-Ireland champions Armagh would not be able to meet Donegal after their Ulster decider or their fellow group members Dublin and Galway.
Like Cork, Kerry will play on Saturday when they will take on Cavan in Fitzgerald Stadium at 3.30pm. The other two preliminary quarter-finals – Down v Galway and Donegal v Louth – are set for 1.45pm and 4pm starts in Newry and Ballybofey on Sunday.
The Dublin-Cork game on Saturday is the second part of a double-header featuring the Dublin-Limerick All-Ireland SHC quarter-final, which throws in at 4pm. In the other last six Liam MacCarthy Cup game, Galway and Tipperary meet in TUS Gaelic Grounds at 6.15pm. It is the third time in six seasons that the Limerick venue hosts the counties’s quarter-final.
There will be no draw required for the All-Ireland SHC semi-finals. Should the provincial finalists Limerick and Galway both fail to win this weekend, Tipperary will face Kilkenny on July 6 and Dublin will meet Cork the evening before as provincial round-robin pairings are also avoided.
The Tailteann Cup semi-finals – Limerick v Wicklow and Kildare v Fermanagh – have been given 2pm and 4pm slots on Sunday.
Finally, Thurles's FBD Semple Stadium has been confirmed as the venue for the Clare-Waterford All-Ireland minor hurling final on Saturday week. The game will have a 5.15pm throw-in and will be televised live on TG4.
Fitzgerald Stadium, 3.30pm, GAA+
Croke Park, 6.15pm, GAA+
Croke Park, 4pm, RTÉ
TUS Gaelic Grounds, 6.15pm, RTÉ
Bansha, 1pm
Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, 3pm
Box-It Athletic Grounds, 2pm
Avant Money Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada, 2pm
TBC, 2pm
TBC, 2pm
TBC 4pm
TBC, 4pm
Páirc Esler, 1.45pm, GAA+
MacCumhaill Park, 4pm, GAA+
Croke Park, 2pm, RTÉ.
Croke Park, 4pm, RTÉ
Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosóg, 3.30pm, TG4.
Kingspan Breffni, 1.30pm, TG4.
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