Rebels need

bridged a gap in Leinster stretching back to 1961, were entitled to feel they feel the progress made in 2013 could be built upon in the seasons ahead.

It hasn’t worked out like that, however, as neither Cork nor Dublin have managed to collect championship silverware in the meantime, and it’s an indication of how far their stock has plunged that they are both currently priced at 25/1 to reach the summit this year.

Cork’s slide down the rankings began when they shipped a tenpoint hammering from Tipp in the 2014 All-Ireland semi final, although the result was perceived as being nothing more than an aberration at the time.

Indeed, Cork were numbered among five or six teams in with a realistic chance of going all the way prior to last year’s championship, but by the end of it it was easy to appreciate why manager Jimmy Barry-Murphy opted to bring the curtain down on his fouryear tenure in the hot seat.

Beaten by Waterford in the league final and the Munster championship, the Rebels exited the All-Ireland race in most ignominious fashion for the second year in-a-row at the hands of Galway in a quarter final tie, all of which served to convince JBM he had gone as far as he could go with the team.

Regardless of how Cork shaped up in this season’s league, they were always likely to be the outsiders of the five teams involved in the Munster championship, and, losing all five games in the group stage appeared to confirm as much.

Yet, there were some encouraging aspects to the league campaign, as they produced a vibrant display in a Round 3 clash, which they were unlucky to lose, with All-Ireland champions Kilkenny in Pairc Uí Rinn, while they delivered another strong performance to upset the odds in the relegation play-off against Galway up in Salthill.

From the outset, the new management, headed by Kieran Kingston, made it clear they weren’t going to lose any sleep if the league went badly for Cork in any case, stressing that a training plan had been put in place with