John Cleary: 'Recent Cork resilience will quell consistency debate for now'

GAFFER: Cork Manager John Cleary sees progress. Pic: Oliver McVeigh/Sportsfile

For the moment, Cork football is free of all usual shackles. A temporary pause on pressure. A pin stuck in familiar spring pessimism. Nobody will be calling for a review of this, that, or the other for a while yet.

Promotion has proven a wonderful cure of all ails.

For the moment, John Cleary’s group are happily resident in that sweet spot of having achieved a long-held goal, while also knowing that the first searching questions of summer are still a good few weeks off in the distance.

Cork football has had little to bask in over the past decade, so there’ll be no apologies for taking a second to stand and absorb their successful escape from the League’s second-tier.

With all weights momentarily lifted, and in the company of Cork manager Cleary early on Wednesday evening in the Páirc Uí Chaoimh media room, we asked him how much of a shackle their never-ending Division 2 status was both in recent weeks and years.

Squeezed in the middle of his answer was the admission that, in the back of his mind, he thought they’d fecked their latest promotion push following the demolition by Derry in Round 5.

“When we came in, the first thing we went to do was steady the ship. And then, when we felt we had that done, it was a case of trying to quickly drive on for promotion, but we realised it wasn't easy,” Cleary began.

“I felt last year, the Down game [in Round 2] got away from us. It was a game we should have won, and like this year, we could have ended up with six or eight points starting out, but the last couple of years, we had been nearly out of it before it started by losing one of the first couple of games as it is very hard to play catch-up in Division 2.

“That was something we spoke about and tried to arrest this year. And even though we got a difficult draw in the league, we felt the easier games were front-loaded and we could put maybe six or possibly eight points on the board. Now, that nearly came a cropper in the Cavan match first day out.

REBEL REBEL: Cork players will look to change Croke Park luck this weekend. Pic: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

“Promotion, definitely it was something we were aiming for. And, you know, the longer it went on, it was getting more frustrating. But we realised that it was very difficult to do. And looking at the teams that are going to be there next year, it's not going to be any easier.”

Next year’s race is none of Cork’s concern. Their next concern is maintaining the recent bout of consistency that, similar to Division 1 involvement, for so long evaded them.

The six wins from seven outings this season - including victories over 2025 All-Ireland semi-finalists Meath and Tyrone, as well as Leinster champions Louth - is unrecognisable from last year’s championship run of only two wins - over Limerick and Roscommon - from six games.

Of all that has been said and written about Cork football during Cleary’s tenure, and indeed before he assumed the gig, the consistent accusation of a county sorely lacking in consistency had no ounce of hyperbole attached. It was a truism they could not deny or shake.

“It was a thing that, before the season started, we really zoned in on it. Psychologically, we had done some work because we could come along and beat Donegal, beat Armagh, and then the following day, against a lesser team, we mightn't perform and mightn't win.

“I think it was part of the journey and part of the evolution that we would try and get over that. I'm not saying we're out the other side either. But the very fact of even coming back after the Derry game and winning the next two games will help a lot in that. And winning the four games on the trot at the start, that definitely boosted confidence and helped no end.

“Those were things that we had in our mind at the start of the campaign. Thank God we delivered.” 

A quick eye to Sunday. Cork haven’t won a final in Croke Park since 2012. They haven’t won a game in Croke Park full stop since 2015. Cleary is equally quick to point out where priorities lie.

“We'd love to win on Sunday. The most important thing was last Sunday. Last Sunday was a more important game than next Sunday,” he continued.

“We'll be going up there to win, make no bones about that. But we'll just see how it pans out on the day. I would say the Championship game two weeks later [Munster quarter-final against Limerick] is more important than next Sunday.”