The Cork footballers
All the talk earlier in the season centred around whether Cork, All-Ireland SFC champions in 2010, would avoid the Tailteann Cup and they managed that by finishing fourth in Division 2 of the League.
Their Munster SFC campaign could hardly have gone any worse, though, having been expected to come through their side of the draw and book a provincial final date against old enemies Kerry.
That went out the window when Clare sent them from Cusack Park with their tails between their legs and they now head into the All-Ireland SFC off the back of a seven-week lay-off.
To make matters worse, their opening game of the Super 4s comes against Louth with those two sides likely to be battling it out for the third-place qualification spot in a group that also features big hitters Kerry and Mayo.
After defending All-Ireland champions Kerry were defeated by Mayo last weekend in Killarney, Jack O’Connor’s men will surely be out for blood when they face the Rebels next weekend so that places even more significance on their date with Louth.
Mickey Harte’s men, which defeated Cork 1-10 to 0-10 in their Division 2 FL clash in mid-March, have three Leinster SFC games under their belts and were in action as recently as two weeks ago when they fell to Dublin, 5-21 to 0-15, in the provincial decider.
John Cleary’s Rebels need to get something out of the eagerly-awaited Páirc Tailteann clash on Saturday to save their season so the stakes are high.
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