‘If we don’t win the Tyrone game, we could be into a preliminary quarter-final the following week,’ the Castlehaven man said
Heading into the Round 2 fixture with the Ulster Champions few gave Cleary’s men a chance however after 70 plus minutes of action even less were writing off a side that now has lost once in their last seven competitive outings.
The two-point win (3-9 to 0-16) means that Cork now stand just a point away from an automatic quarter-final place proper – two wins from their last two games putting Cork in the driving seat – for now anyway.
Cleary couldn’t hide his delight at the win choosing to remind the fans that there have been scalps in the past similar to this one.
This is “a fantastic win. We were playing at home here on a beautiful day in front of a big Cork crowd,” said the man charged with bringing the Cork public back on side in support of the county’s second choice GAA sporting code.
“We have had a few close shaves against top teams in the past and we didn’t get over the line. Donegal were on the crest of a wave,” he said.
“We saw them last Saturday and I went up to see them in the Ulster final. They were outstanding and maybe they were a little off-colour today, but, in fairness, I think our lads got some great turnovers and things like that. We missed a few scores as well.
“But we got three goals today, which was a big difference. All year we haven’t been getting them and we have been ruing the goal chances we have missed. We probably did again at times today but getting three got us over the line.”
Cleary couldn’t be prouder of the work put in by his charges as his side look to improve game on game, despite many setbacks along the way.
“This group are putting in a savage effort. We have all gotten some things right and some things wrong. We have been kind of slowly climbing the ladder so it was a case of would today be a step too far?
“But I thought we played outstandingly well at times. It looked like we might leave it behind but thankfully we got two turnovers at the end to kick two great points to get us over the line.”
While Cork took the spoils on the day few could argue that when Donegal had the ball they did look comfortable, many scores were added with ease by Jim McGuinness’s side.
Donegal were the only team in this country prior to this one who had not tasted defeat. They were simply the unmovable object but they came up against a Cork team who had a plan.
“Donegal are a top-class side. The way they loop, come in from the side and take their scores with ease, they probably got their scores a lot easier than we did. But we had a plan to try and stop that. At times, it worked and we had great turnovers. At other times, it didn’t and they got great scores.”
Cork’s plan was clear from the outset, counter attack from deep and hit the visitors where it hurt – and for long periods it worked a treat – that said, late on things looked to be getting away from the Rebels.
“When we hit them on the break, the goals were big, big bonuses and it gave us something to cling on to. It looked in the last five minutes like we were scrambling for a draw at best, but in fairness to the lads, they showed savage energy to get up and kick the last two points.
“We felt that if Donegal came into the scoring area, we had to be really at them because they were going to get scores all day long. They did at times and we couldn’t get at them. But some of our turnovers, even the last one there when the pressure was on, were outstanding.”
Great days have been had on Leeside in recent years however backing those days up has been a chore – now the Leesiders have another big test on the way and Cleary knows a result in that one would be an even bigger boost for the lovers of Cork football.
“We had a couple of days like this last year. For the Roscommon game, the crowd really got behind us below in Páirc Uí Chaoimh and it was a super feeling.
“Today was a day when we needed a big performance. To get a win is a bonus on top of that. Hopefully now that the summer is here, the supporters will stay behind us because we have some very big games coming over the next couple of weeks.
“If we don’t win the Tyrone game, we could be into a preliminary quarter-final the following week and depending on that result be out so it’s still all to play for but we will definitely take confidence from getting a victory today.”
