![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/5057468_3_articleinlinemobile_27042026_Clare_V_Cork_U17_Football_Clarecastle_0541.jpg\" "\\"")
Cork minor football manager Keith Ricken during the victory over Clare. Picture: Eamon Ward<\/p>\nCork minor football manager Keith Ricken said his team\u2019s emphatic 4-25 to 0-12 win over Clare in Clarecastle \u201cpales into insignificance\u201d in the shadow of the sudden passing of Carrigaline and MTU Cork GAA player Darragh King, whose death at the age of 24 last week has left the GAA community on Leeside numb.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ricken, who has long championed the wellbeing and development of young players above all else, spoke with clear emotion after the game on Monday evening.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While proud of his group\u2019s performance in their Electric Ireland Munster MFC Phase 2 opener, he stressed that the result must be looked at through a different lens.<\/p>\n
\u201cYoung fellas give you their heart and soul,\u201d he said quietly.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd when something like this happens in terms of Darragh King, it puts everything in perspective. You\u2019re reminded very quickly what really matters. This win pales into insignificance really.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cork minor football manager Keith Ricken during the victory over Clare. Picture: Eamon Ward<\/p>\n
\u201cThese minors are still only young men. They\u2019re learning about football, but they\u2019re also learning about life. A tragedy like this\u2026 it hits everyone. All you can do is support each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was at the funeral today. Everyone has really come together as a community \u2014 Carrigaline GAA, MTU Cork, Darragh\u2019s friends, classmates and so on. I knew him well, an outstanding person.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt took me nearly two hours coming up the road this evening to gather my thoughts to prepare for the game. I must say that I was very impressed with Eoghan Ahern \u2014 he\u2019s from Carrigaline and scored a few points. It\u2019s a tough time for the Carrigaline club.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlaying Kerry, Munster finals\u2026 no matter what you think, it doesn\u2019t really matter when something like this happens. My thoughts right now are with Darragh\u2019s family.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the field, Cork delivered a display of control, movement and scoring power that overwhelmed a Clare side playing their fourth championship match in as many weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m delighted for the players,\u201d Ricken says.<\/p>\n
![\"Cork's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/5057378_31_articleinlinemobile_27042026_Clare_V_Cork_U17_Football_Clarecastle_0031.jpg\" "\\"Cork's")
Cork’s Tom Whooley scores a goal against Clare. Picture: Eamon Ward<\/p>\n
\u201cThey worked very hard and they\u2019re a very enthusiastic bunch. You don\u2019t always know what way young players will be when they get off the bus \u2014 they can be nervous \u2014 and there was a bit of that at the start. But overall they did the basics very well.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe players weren\u2019t forcing shots that weren\u2019t on. They worked it around, got a few goals, and that got their confidence up.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe movement was very good.\u00a0 The coaching team have done a great job \u2014 Maurice Moore and Billy O\u2019Connor \u2014 they\u2019re really good. We\u2019ve had an uninterrupted run with the players, and that makes a big difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur preparation was excellent. As I said to you last week, we had about ten matches, including winning the Leinster Development League.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were able to plan our challenge matches better. We had a couple of rehearsals for nights like this \u2014 travelling two and a half, three hours up the country on a school night. I am delighted for the lads. They were excellent.”<\/p>\n
Despite the margin of victory, Ricken was quick to dampen any talk of momentum or statements made. Cork face Kerry in their next group-stage outing next Monday in Austin Stack Park in Tralee (7pm).<\/p>\n
![\"Cork's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/5057372_31_articleinlinemobile_27042026_Clare_V_Cork_U17_Football_Clarecastle_0021.jpg\" "\\"Cork's")
Cork’s D\u00f3nal Herlihy in action against Clare. Picture: Eamon Ward<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I was saying to the lads, there are four walls in a house \u2014 and that\u2019s one plastered. We\u2019ve three more to plaster before we even talk about the roof. We\u2019re not getting carried away.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is over now. The next game is all that matters, and that\u2019s Kerry next Monday.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cork minor football manager Keith Ricken said his team\u2019s emphatic 4-25 to 0-12 win over Clare in Clarecastle…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421353,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1964,61,60,112],"class_list":["post-421352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-cork-gaa","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}