Seán McDonnell: Cork football back where it belongs after Division 1 promotion

“Everyone was playing for each other," McDonnell said about Cork's victory over Tyrone. "There wasn't one man out there that was being selfish, taking stupid shots."

Sunday's Division 2 league final against Meath will be just the second time Cork's Seán McDonnell has played at Croke Park. Pic: Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile

“This is where Cork football should be,” was Seán McDonnell’s assertive analysis of their promotion to Division 1 in Omagh on Sunday. “I think it is 10 years too long.” 

The Mallow man made his debut last year but he can testify that Division 2 has given Cork an education. “Division 2 is no joke and I know we want to be in Division 1, but Division 2 has definitely stood to us.

“You see Dublin won the All-Ireland, Armagh won the All-Ireland, both from Division 2. We're happy to be out of there at the same time. Especially after the Derry game, coming up north to get a win and put in just a performance from minute one to minute 70 was brilliant.” 

As McDonnell alluded, Cork’s previous trip to Ulster earlier this month went awry when they lost by 20 points in Celtic Park. And yet he didn’t sense it was a mortal blow for the team’s promotion prospects.

“We knew we let ourselves down against Derry. It wasn't a case of just a bad performance. It was just a day where we didn't show up and there was no real fire in the belly.

“I think every single game this year we've come with that real aggression and we'd have been confident in Derry that day. It just wasn't us.

“If you look at our season as a whole, from pre-season to now, that's the one blip. We said that's the outlier, that's not the way we play. Six wins out of seven, that should always be good enough to get you promoted.”

Vital to Cork’s victory in Omagh was their confidence to push up on Tyrone’s kick-outs in the first half, even when the wind was in the hosts’ favour.

“We knew they weren't going to take a step back. We had to take the game to them and we started very well. I thought our attack was brilliant. We played the ball around, we worked the good shots.” 

McDonnell also had a goal chance but it was saved by Oisín O’Kane. “Maybe I should have fisted that one over the bar,” he laughed. “John (Cleary) will probably say that.” 

The meticulous build-up to Brian Hurley’s 66th minute two-pointer to put Cork five points up was particularly pleasing for McDonnell. “We held on to the ball for two and a half, three minutes and got a two-pointer at the end of it.

“Everyone was playing for each other. There wasn't one man out there that was being selfish, taking stupid shots

. It was all about the next man off the shoulder running, working hard. As soon as you turned it over, it was get back, help each other out, from the full-forward line all the way back to the full-back line.

“I think Dan O'Mahony got a turnover on (Eoin) McElholm coming down the stretch there. It was absolutely unbelievable. It's just an unbelievable squad of players.” 

Sunday’s final against Meath is only Cork’s fourth appearance in Croke Park since 2022 and McDonnell’s second ever. “My only game in Croke Park last year was against Dublin and unfortunately we lost.

“When I was young, what do you dream of is playing in Croke Park. Going to the league final, you want to go up there and win it. We're going to prepare this week the same way we would for every game this year.

“Just go and enjoy it again. We've earned that, we've earned the chance to go and enjoy it and show what we can do up on the biggest stage.”