Footballers date with destiny
IT promises to be a big weekend for Cork GAA. On Saturday the new-look Pairc Uí Chaoimh hosts its first big game with the All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship quarter-final between Clare and Tipperary at 3pm.
Pairc Uí Chaoimh, of course, also hosts the All Ireland Intermediate Hurling final between Cork and Kilkenny at 2pm on Sunday and the second quarter-final between Waterford and Wexford at 4pm.
The footballers’ meeting with Mayo in the All Ireland Football Championship Round 4A qualifier, meanwhile, is due to be the most consequential on field action for Rebel county supporters.
Really it’s a make or break game for Peadar Healy’s side after a desperately disappointing 2017 campaign to date. The hope must be that they will have re-energised themselves in the weeks since the Munster final defeat to Kerry in Fitzgerald Stadium
The prospect of facing a Mayo side picking up momentum in the Gaelic Grounds would, on its face, appear to be a daunting one for Cork, especially with news coming through this week that Niall Coakley is likely to miss the game through an injury he picked up against Kerry in Killarney.
Three other Cork players are being monitored this week as to their fitness to compete. All three went off injured in the Munster final with the Kingdom – Michael Shields, James Loughrey and Ruairí Deane.
The bookies give Cork a 9/2 chance of victory in the Gaelic Grounds this Saturday evening (5pm throw-in), reflecting a widespread belief that they will struggle to deliver the goods against Stephen Rochford’s men on Sunday. The implied probability of 9/2 is less than a 20% chance.
That may seem harsh on a team which competed in a provincial championship final earlier this month, but goes to show how far Cork’s stock has fallen in the past twenty four months.
The hope on Leeside will be that all the criticism that’s been sent in their direction this past couple of weeks will inspire something of a backlash – a fear the Mayo manager spoke to earlier this week.
“We know Cork is a strong GAA county, a strong football county, and they will be keen to put in a big performance after what happened against Kerry.
“So we’re expecting a backlash from them, and we’ll be looking to meet that head-on,” he said.